The one from before
by lizlovestoread
Summary: What happens when KaibaCorp gets stolen from constantly, and the gang runs into the girl who's doing it? Zaara is an orphan who takes care of other orphans after getting kicked out of the orphanage, she grew up under the city and in the city. Disclaimer! Zaara is my own character (as well as the orphans and Kazuka) and I do not own yugioh or any of its characters.
1. Meeting Zaara

**A/N: My first fan fiction, i got inspired by a few fan fictions so i decided to do my own. the chapters may take a while but i will update as much as possible if you comment!**

**Zaaras POV **

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!" My feet silently slapped against the concrete as I glided across the sidewalk, my black hair falling into my face.

"There she goes!"

The goons yelled as I ran, they were almost on top of me when I saw a group of people and ran right through them into an alley way. I held my breath as they ran by, yelling- "You can't just steal from Kaiba Corp and expect to get away with it!" I waited until they were out of earshot and came out laughing. I took out the stimulator that I had stolen,

"So Seto expects to be making some new technology that only he knows how to use... smart but now I can figure out how to use this thing and how it ticks." I grinned as someone rammed into me, knocking me down-

"Ee!" I yelped, flailing to grab onto something as I dragged someone else down with me. I landed on the first and the second person landed next to me, I got onto my feet quickly "Omigosh, are you okay I'm so sorry!" I bowed as a blond wearing a green jacket helped a small boy up. The small boy had spikey hair that was red, blond, and black, he had purple eyes to finish the oddity that is him.

"You okay, Yug?" The blond asked, dusting him off. Yug, if that was his name, nodded as his soft purple eyes looked at me. It seemed as though something in him recognized me, and in me him. But as though it were someone similar to him, not actually him, it lasted for a fleeting second.

"Um... do you two know each other?" A black haired guy asked, assisting me up, my jaw dropped,  
I glared at him, "Don't touch me." I yanked arm away, wincing as the hand shape bruised began to hurt again. Stupid alley man...

"Okay, sorry." The one with the black hair replied looking at the short one. "I uh... I'm sorry but I do have to get going... I'm sort of in a rush'"

I stood there as an uncomfortable silence took place, Yug seemed to snap out of a trance.

"Oh, sorry, my name is Yugi Moto," said the spikey haired one, "Her name is Tea, this is Joey, and that's Tristan, and that guy is Duke." He pointed to each friend who smiled in return.

I stared at Yugi again until someone ran up behind them, he had white hair and really soft alluring brown eyes. The goons were, unknowing to him, right behind.

"Uh, gatta go! See ya later!" I waved, grabbing knapsack with Kaiba Corp 's new portable stimulator inside. Yugi called after but the goons pushed through them as I ran away,

"Get back here!"

"Thief!"

I laughed as I ran away, ducking people and hopping up onto some boxes to a higher bar that I swung myself onto the roof with.

**A/N: Well there's chapter one, sorry if it seemed short, but I'm working on chapter two now! Please review i love feedback! Who is this girl that can so easily steal from Seto Kaiba? Does she know Yugi or his twin, Atem?**

**review, review, review! ...please? XD**


	2. Who Was That?

**A/N: The chapters may be short now but i promise if i get more reviews they'll get longer. I'm working on chapters 3 & 4 currently, i May just combine them though.**

**Enjoy!**

Third person POV

Yugi stared after the girl as some KaibaCorp goons ran after her, calling her a thief, her oversized army jacket flailing behind her.

"Hey guys." Ryou stated, walking up behind the group with his- some would say evil- twin bakura. The group exchanged a confused glance before Bakura said something.

"Who was the girl with the moves?" His raspy voice questioned, breaking the silence. His brown eyes narrowed as he watched a sillouted figure hop from rooftop to rooftop. Joey shrugged,

"We dunno. She ran into us and said little." The blonde looked the most confused, aside from Duke, who's green eyes seemed distant.

"Uh, Duke? Are you okay?" Yugi asked as his twin, Atem came down the street.

How two brothers can look so much alike and be two years apart is beyond anyone. The difference between these brothers was obvious once you looked at them long enough. Yugi was shy, timid, and his style of clothing also showed that. Along with his blonde bangs being spiked in front of his face, while Atem's was spiked in his star-styled hair in a crown. Atem was taller and more outgoing, prone to fighting(duel monsters style), and his clothing showed he was true to himself.

"Yeah, I feel like I've seen her before though." His eyes wandered over to where the black haired woman had gone. Atem looked at him questioningly,

"Who?" Yugi yelped, not knowing his twin stood behind him. Atem chuckled as his eyes were on Duke, wanting an answer.

"There was a girl who ran into us, some KaibaCorp goons were running after her calling her a thief." Joey replied, his new york accent sticking out in Japanese. Bakura hmmed as Ryou looked at Duke, Duke snapped his fingers.

"I got it!" He yelled looking at the surprised group who did a unison "huh?" Duke smiled his green eyes knowing.

"I recognize her from the orphanage." He had to continue to explain from the faces of his friends.

"You guys remember that the Kaiba brothers are from the orphanage in Tokyo right?" He got nods all around as he grinned. Yugi was the first to piece it together.  
"She's from that orphanage? Why is she stealing from Kaiba if she practically grew up with them?" Tea looked at Yugi,

"That's a good question, and who is she exactly?" The others looked at each other as Marik spoke up, seeming to appear out of nowhere with his siblings,

"I guess if we are meant to know, she'll cross our paths again." Marik's purple eyes looked at Atem who understood the hidden meaning: just like how we all became friends, if it's meant to happen it will happen.

"Just like with the millennium items. They all came together and we are all friends now. Even after all the trouble we went through." Atem explained as Joey flexed one arm, the other pushing up his sleeve,

"I know that if she ever comes back as a thief I'll catch her!" Joey's face was immitating a 'bad ass' expression as the others began to laugh at him, "Huh? What's so funny?"

He began threatening Tristan to tell him, that's when Bakura grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him back, causing him to fall backwards to the ground.

"They laugh, you idiot, because you did not pay attention to the way she moved. She's obviously skilled-"

"And possibly lethal if she's anything like Kaiba-"

"Or stronger from the looks of how she easily toyed with those goons." Marik and Bakura finished each other's sentences, grinning like they were thinking the same thing.

"Hold it you two," Tea growled, glaring at the two boys, which they immediately sweat-dropped and backed up, "we don't know who this girl is, she just successfully stole something from KaibaCorp WHILE Kaiba was in the building and escaped from more than fifteen of his goons." She was going to continue but Duke butted in,

"Plus not to mention that when no one would adopt her she knows practically all of Japan like the back of her hand. She's grown up on these streets and obviously knows her stuff."

"Maybe we could get her into school." Yugi stated thoughtfully, thinking hard, to which the group replied with a big "huh?"

**A/N: Review! Well i wanna know you're thoughts so i can make it better! Writers thrive on reviews! There's chapter 2, and i do apologize for them being short, i don't have a computer so I'm using and writing on My kindle.**

**I can't tell you everything but in the next chapter Seto Kaiba gets a little irritated. I have to restrain myself to once a week so i have time to work on future chapters.**


	3. A New Mission

**A/N: Well as i promised, I'm updating every Monday. i even have an alarm on my phone to remind me. :)**

**Well, I hope I'll get more reviews or i won't be inspired to write more. Let's go to the story!**

**Seto's POV**

I slammed my hands on my desk, standing. My security team looked at me fearfully,  
"What do you mean she got away?!" I demanded, looking at each of their dumb faces. I couldn't believe it.  
"A woman about my age snuck into KaibaCorp and stole my prototype, snuck past all my security systems, took out a few of you, then proceeded to elude you in the city?" My voice rose on the ending of that sentence as I glared at each of them. Mokuba looked at me and nodded, I signed and sat back down in my chair.  
"Sir, she isn't any woman, she ran into those kids that sometimes come around." Judo began to give me an excuse,  
"You mean Yugi?" Mokuba asked, looking at my pathetic security squad. They nodded their heads,  
"She was talking to them when we relocated her." My head of security claimed,  
"Then how did you lose an eighteen year old girl?" The irritation in my voice was obvious, "Do I have to do everything myself?" I growled, standing once more.  
"You're dismissed." My guards scrambled our of my office as Mokuba looked at me worryingly.  
"Seto, what are we going to do. She avoided every camera and somehow didn't trip any alarms until she was on her way out." He looked up at me, knowing I had a plan.  
"We go out into the streets and see if we can find her. I don't trust sending you out on your own. You should stay here or at home."  
Mokuba have me an irritated look, "But, Seto, she knows your face." Mokuba had a point, everyone knew the face of KaibaCorp and hardly anyone knew of Mokuba nowadays.  
"I don't like this idea of yours, Mokuba." I looked down at him, his black eyes begging me. I turned my gaze to the window and looked out to the city, the sun was slowly setting.  
"You have two days, and only during the day." I sighed, he smiled and hugged me tightly,  
"Thanks big brother. I won't let you down. I promise to travel during the day." He let me go and ran out the door to go plan at which areas he should look.  
_I think I'm going to go have a look around..._ I walked out the door, locked it with three different mechanisms and then proceeded to go to the elevator.  
"I will find this girl. This is the last she'll see of KaibaCorp." The doors slid closed as I pushed the lobby button.

**Zaara's point of view**  
I hopped down into an alley that I was all too familiar with, "Kami, Zane, Sami, I'm back." I called out into the darkness, I waited for five seconds, then a light came on that led me to the door of our home. I opened the trap door that no one would've really seen, I hopped down and got tackled by three children.  
"Zaara!" Three young voices yelled in unison as they hugged me tightly. I laughed and kissed each of their heads,  
"Up you get, or you'll squash tonight's dinner." I ushered them up so I could open my knapsack, I grabbed out the food and walked over to the makeshift kitchen we have, courtesy of past orphans, orphans that get adopted donate to us, they're the only ones that know our location. Aside from us, people come and go all the time. They got up and jumped around happily, chanting that I was home. I smiled softly, my bright blue eyes moving to the stove.  
"Sausages and green beans with mashed potatoes." I started the stove and watched as they tossed a hackey-sack back and forth. I laughed as I began to skin the potatoes with my pocket knife, Kami tackled Zane for nailing her in the face with the small item. Sami just laughed and watched. These three are few of the orphans that actually live in these tunnels under the city, they aren't sewers, they're actual tunnels that we've created over the years. From generation to generation of orphans, this place was built for those who didn't want to be adopted or got ousted from the home.  
I am one of the many who take care of the children and others who pass through here. We've made an agreement, once you've a job and you're settling down or you want to settle down, you donate a little cash here and there to the people of the tunnels and never speak or see of the tunnels again. It's to keep it secret, keep us safe. There are other's that visit occasionally, they distribute the cash-  
"Give it back!" Sami yelled, tackling Kami, apparently she had taken Lilly. Lilly is her teddy bear. Sami is six, Kami is nine, and Zane is ten, he takes pride in being the older brother of the three of them. I sighed as I turned around and saw a silver haired six year old tackle the blond nine year old, punching and kicking. Zane picked Sami up, she was kicking and flailing trying to get out of his grasp as I plucked Kami by her collar,  
"Now." I stated, my icy blue eyes staring from Kami to Sami, Kami hung her head as she walked over and handed the bear back. The silver haired girl snuggled her teddy and smiled,  
"Thank you mommie." I smiled softly at that and wrapped all three of them into a hug,  
"Please try not to fight, okay? Now dinner is almost done cooking. Go get washed up." They hugged back and then ran off to the bathroom giggling and smiling._ I still need to see what that stimulater does and maybe get better at dueling so I can win some cash prizes... the next dueling competition is on Pegasus's Island, and you have to be invited to participate. _I plan to participate and win, if neither Kaiba or Atem are in this competition, that is. I need to sneak onto the ship and steal some star chip, if possible. Dinner was ready so I pulled out some dishes and served up the food,  
"Get it while it's hot!" I called, the children bolting out of the bathroom and to the table. I let them eat as I walked to my room, the wooden floor crackling under my footsteps.  
I grabbed my knapsack and looked at the stimulater, I plugged my deck into it and punched a few buttons, a few lights flashed as it spun out into the middle of the floor, a bunch of dazzling lights swirled around as my dark magician girl appeared, five cards materialized in front of me showing me my hand and a life point count to the left as well as showing me where my opponents cards and points would have been.  
"Cool, and I hear that a dueling contest is about to start up... I wonder if Seto will participate." I shook that thought from my head. "He's probably forgotten, I wasn't at the orphanage for very long when they finally got adopted."  
I hid the duel disk under my mattress as a knock sounded on my door,  
"Mommy? Sakura is here, she says you can go out of you want." Kami hesitantly opened the door and smiled at me. I hugged her kneeling down and kissed her head.  
"You be good for Auntie Sakura, okay?" Kami nodded and rubbed her eyes, "Sweetie, don't cry, I only leave once or twice a week. Once for supplies and the other just for me. I'm not leaving forever."  
Kami nodded and walked out, teddy bear in hand trailing behind her. I smiled softly as I put my combat boots on, I pulled my hair out of its pony tail and shook it out as I hid my eyes behind my black hair. My halved t-shirt was hidden behind my green army jacket. I was going out tonight to steal something I noticed one of those kids wore, an inverted pyramid in a ring with crystal shapes pointers hanging from it. That millennium ring would sure go for a lot on the market. Or one of Seto's cards in that briefcase of his.  
I grabbed my gloves and hid a few daggers in my army jacket, this is gonna be tough. But I can do it if I'm careful. I looked out the window and saw bricks and sighed. Sometimes I wish I wasn't down here living like this, but my little ones give me the reason to stay down and hide.  
"I need cash..." I grabbed a few bills from my bed side and walked out, my army jacket flaring out at unnatural angels just like Seto's jacket and like Yugi's hair. I just hope I don't get caught and all that training wasn't for nothing. I walked out of my room and closed the door with a soft click. Time for work.  
"Mommy, are you going out again?" Zane looked up at me with big green eyes and I kissed his head,  
"Yes, sweetie. But I promise I'll be here in the morning when the three of you awaken. If I'm not call Auntie Sakura, she'll come over and take care of you. I love you." I put my hand on his head and walked out into the alleyway outside our hidden doorstep.

**A/N: Well i hope that was long enough, i know it took me long enough,**

**Please review, the two reviews i got made me so happy since this is first fan fiction online. I really hope my next chapter will fall together. :) Working on chapter 4**


	4. Kaiba Brothers

**A/N: I apologize for the late upload, I know some people were looking forward to the new chapter. This one's about the Kaiba Brothers and solely in their point of views. I wasn't too inspired to write it except for the fact that I had a few people that posted for me to keep writing, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! :) I thank those people and they keep me going.  
**

**Exams were tough but I've finally made it out! Oh and you guys don't know this but I had foot surgery on March 8th, i've been on crutches since and in two casts, I FINALLY GOT MY BOOT ON WEDNESDAY :) :) I was so happy! Now I start foot therapy next week~!**

**Well, anyways, onto the story!**

**Mokuba's POV**

I ran across the street in the cover of darkness, street lamps flickered in t his part of town. My eyes scanned the similar spaces to look for a certain mark that told me it was _her _house. After a few hours I bent over, my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath, I was thankful that it was a cool night.

"How hard could it be to find one house in this small community?" I complained to no-one in particular. Finally, I lifted my head up to look at the house I stopped in front of and sighed. _Of course._ I ran up the walkway and slammed open the door with excitement,

"Hey!" a feminine voice yelled out in irritation, her brown eyes looking up at me from her makeshift couch.

"Sorry, Kazuka." I apologized when I realized what I had done, I sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of my head.

"Mokuba?" She asked, surprised to see me. She got up and walked over to me, "I haven't seen you since the alleyway incident." I could see her trace the scar on her forehead. She hugged me tightly, "what brings you around here... Alone?" Her tone of voice told me she was suspicous of my actions, I could feel myself sweating under her devlish gaze.

"Seto asked me to find the person who stole his new prototype-"

"So you tink I did it?" She accused, her hazel eyes narrowing in irritation.

"N-no! I was thinking you could help me locate her." I had waved my hands in front of me then looked at her seriously. "You've helped out Seto in the past," I mumbled. She sighed in defeat as she motioned for me to follow her into the back room. The room we were in before was only lit by the television, this room had a few lamps on the ground and the door was of concrete- making it cold to the touch. The room _looked_ normal enough, until you hit a certain switch, it was hidden behind a lamp. She flipped the switch and the walls moved away, something moved beneath us, making noise.

"You're about to see why, Mokuba, my family and I haven't moved from this house for generations." Her voice was a bell in the silence, then a roar broke out from under us and the floor began to move in a downward motion.

"What the-?"

"Relax, Mokuba, you're brother has stuff like this, correct.?" Sje inquired, her brown eyes looking a bit hazel with excitement of doing some work again. "I will be paid correctly, yes?" I relaxed and shook my head yes to confirm both questions.

"It'll depend on how fast you locate her and bring her to us." A hand landed on my head as I looked up to meet soft hazel eyes,

"You already sound so much like your brother, Mokuba." I beamed at this statement, though she frowned. Then a sudden jolt brought us from our thoughts as we had reached whatever destination this elevator type floor had taken us to. It was a big room with outfits and weapons, not to mention other things you think Batman would have in his hidden corridor.

"Wow, Kazuka, this is amazing!" Kazuka grinned at this statement,

"This is everything from the 1600's to now. Every weapoon, merchandise on the black market, even a few things from Egypt. My family has traveled over the decades and takes things that might pose a threat to someone, so that's why we steal. Except my sister died giving birth to her daughter, but her and the father disappeared."

I stood there, taking everything in, amazed by the history of the items in this room. Kazuka walked up to a stand and grabbed a few items hiding them in certain areas on her body so she couold still be agile while carrying those weapons.

"What are those for?" I asked, worried, she had a bunch of weapons.

"They're devices. For climbing walls, concealing oneself, and for flying. Practically everything you could need to catch a person." Kazuka explained, putting on a big black overcoat that reminded me a lot of Set's purple one. "If she's still in the city, I'll be able to find her." She looked down at me and saw my face,

"Can I come, please, please? I told Seto that I'd look too." I actually sounded like a plain kid my age would sound, it was weird. She did a motion I knew all too well, she pinched the bridge of her nose- that meant she was thinking about it and slightly irritated. Seto did this a lot when he was focused on our company. In some ways, more than some acutally, Kazuka and Seto are alike.

"Fine, but you're not to stay out any later than eleven."

"Whaaaat?" I whined, "but it's already nine!" I knew she was watching out for me but I could take care of myself. I'm not just a child anymore, I'm a company owner!

"Are you coming or going home?" She walked to a door that seemed to appear out of nowhere and she stepped inside with me trailing behind her. Kazuka slid on a pair of gloves and cracked her knuckles.

"Uh, you are planning to bring her back alive, right?" I questioned, slightly nervous since this is my first time dealing with someone like Kazuka. She laughed,

"You know, that's the first time anyone's ever asked me that. Yes, of course I plan on bringing her back alive, Mokuba." She stepped out to a garage with twelve different vehicles, she walked to a small incospicuous car. "Hop in, I'll drop you off at your place."

**Seto's POV**

I entered the key code and looked into the scanner so I could getinto my computer room.

"Running identity verification protocol, please state your name." The computer demanded,

"Seto Kaiba." It took a moment for the machine to assess my voice. The process bar filled quickly and I gained access to my main frame again. The monitors showed my company logo of KaibaCorp when my computer started talking.

"Well, when I said I'd seen it all before, I was wrong! Someone broke into KaibaCorp and stole your latest prototype disk all without being caught?" The voice greeted me with surprise, I glared up at the many monitors in response,

"I need all the camera feeds from the time she snuck in to the time she made it onto the streets." I demanded, I needed to find out who this girl was, and how she was able to elude my security systems. It took only a few seconds for the three main monitors to be filled with camera feeds, all paused on the exact point of the intrusion.

"Well, it looks like she snuck right into your office while you were in that meeting earlier this afternoon!" _She's right_, as I looked at the highlighted screen, I hit play. The black haired thief snuck into my office through my window after placing a device at every corner of the window screen, afterwards she proceeded to look around and then the feed was scrambled.

"Move to the back ups," I ordered as the back up camera feed appeared on the middle monitor, "looks like she knows technology, too bad it wasn't enough to get my back ups." She had faced a certain camera and I paused the feed, zooming in on her face. The girl had icy blue eyes with shaggy shoulder length black hair, she also wore an army jacket and a golden bracelet that bore-

"Kaiba, isn't that the same insignia on her bracelet that's on those 'Millennium Items'?" She asked, zooming in on that annoying, gold insignia.

"Please, Yugi and Atem may have said something about them, but I doubt any of that magic is real. After my duel with Atem, I don't need this crap going on." Obviously, I wasn't happy to see one of those so soon again, especially after suffering my first defeat. "Search all known data bases for thsi girl's mug."

"Right on it, sir." She responded, a picture of the girl popped up on the left side monitor along with a face recognition square that started rapidly scrolling through the data bases. Faces flashed by as I stared at the girl, I looked down at my watch. _Ten thirty already, huh? Mokuba is probably worried sick that I haven't called him yet. _I felt a small smile tug on my lips.

"Call Mokuba, I need to tell him I'm going to be working late."

"You know he's only going to ask-"

"Now."

"Alright, alright, I'm calling him." A picture of Mokuba popped up next to a dialer on the monitor on the far right, it rang a few times before I got the answering machine. I growled slightly as my eyes narrowed, _where is he?_ He always picks up when he's at home, so he's either out, or here.

"Search KaibaCorp for Mokuba's heat signature. He isn't home and I know he left already to search for the girl." I turned back to the middle monitor and saw a match, but the match picture was younger and she had red hair that went down past the picture border.

"Zaara Manijima, orphaned at a young age she was put into the same orphanage as the one you and Mokuba grew up in, she was there for two years before you got adopted. She jumped from house to house, never did she stay in one home for more than two months. After about a year of this she disappeared off the grid. And now, ten years later we find her breaking into KaibaCorp. Talk about a history." The femenine voice told me, showing me pictures of the homes and footage of the families she was stuck in.

"Looks like her homes were abusive, alcoholic, drugge usuage, oh, here's a good one. There was a couple that adopted her regardless of her violent upbringing." A picture came up showing a family of three with black hair. The woman was small in stature but almost as tall as her husband, she had wavey black hair down to her waist and loving brown eyes. Her husband, the tallest of the three, had semi-long spikey hair and bright emerald eyes. The youngest of the group was a spitting image of his father, although he looked to be seven or eight.

"The Devlin's? Isn't that Duke's family? Why isn't she with them now?" I questioned, irritated that I didn't have this information sooner. The screen on my left switched from the phone to the Devlin's family photo, the main monitor showed the most recent picture and the past picture of the woman who stole from me.

"It looks like when they went in to do the paperwork she disappeared, just _vanished_. There was a small search for her for about four days, then the authorities gave up. Duke's family worried about her and checked up on the orphanage for years. It seems like a lot of orphans would disappear, and not because they became adults." More pictures of children appeared on the screen, _wait._

"Give me a map of the robberies in Battle City for the past few months."

"Aye aye, sir." The pictures went to the right monitor again as the main one sifted through all the recent robberies, places and people flashing on the screen. "Looks like there's been three robberies in the area, not including yours. One at the Kame Game Shop, some beginner cards were stolen," a picture of the game shop was pulled to the screen, "Yugi and Atem's grandfather doesn't seem to be wanting a search or pressing charges!"

"The old man probably doesn't even realize that they're missing. What are the other two?" I stood, anticipating why Zaara would rob these places. A picture of a small food market was next,

"Some vegetables and meat were stolen today. Right after the KaibaCorp alert went off."

"So that means she's feeding more than just herself." The pieces were falling together like a 3-D puzzle, she's got to be feeding the runaway orphans. Giving them games and other wares such as clothing, shoes, and hygiene products. But then she falls off the grid again for a few months according to the previous patterns. I figured out the puzzle, but I have more important things to do than search for some missing orphans that don't want to be found.

"Incoming call from Mokuba."

"Patch him through."

**Mokuba's POV**

"Where have you been? It's midnight and I called twenty minutes ago, you weren't out on the streets were you?" I cringed at his tone of voice and looked up to meet his glare,

"I went out to look, Seto, but I swear I was home before dark." I lied, hoping he'd take the bait. He sighed, irritated, as he rubbed his face thinking. "Seto, you're exhausted, come home." I knew the answer to that plea all too well, he gave me the same response every night and I could see the look in his eyes that actually told me he was _considering_ it.

"Let me run a few more programs and then I'll be home, Mokuba. Get some sleep." He responded, his eyes moving away from the screen that connected him to my call.

, he pushed a couple buttons and a voice could be heard in the background as the call ended. I sighed, _that was close, next time I **need** to be here before dark._ I looked outside the window to see the black vehicle silently roar away, Kazuka was going to go look for that woman who broke into KaibaCorp. I wish I was out there right now, _I hate being a kid, and how everyone treats me like one!_

"Master Mokuba, your dinner is awaiting you." A man in a clean cut suit stated, bowing to me, his pepper colored hair was semi short and looked soft. I nodded and followed him as he lead me to the dining hall. The hallways were carpeted and none to scarce of art and other priceless artifacts. We had to put on a show for the people that would come to our fund raisers or events that we held. The snobs loved the art and other styles of architecture in our mansion, even if we didn't want most of this stuff to begin with.

"Master Kaiba is staying late again, I presume?" Cardigan looked at me with his soft blue eyes and I nodded, feeling a pang of loneliness in my stomach.

"Yes, Cardigan, he's simulating a few more programs and says he will return afterwards." I replied, sitting in a bronze colored chair that had velvet red padding with intricate swirls and lines as the design. I sighed as I took up my fork and knife and began to eat the five star entree that my chef had created. He started out, as usual, with me and Seto's favorite soup and salad, Seto's food is being kept in the right temperature for later. After the appetizer, our chef brought out a steak with mashed potatoes and our choice out of ten vegetables that were strewn in plates and bowls across the table. I spaced out as I ate, thinking about the woman I saw rushing out of KaibaCorp with such ease. Her movements seemed familiar, a lot like Seto's training from a while back.

Most people couldn't move like that, but I remember Yugi saying something about her growing up on the streets when I had called him earlier. She has to be in the city still, and she has to strike again, when she does, we'll be ready. Kazuka can locate anyone once they set off a sort of signal of their presence or slip up on leaving a place or just walking through the streets. I was brought back to reality when the front door slammed shut and Seto walked in, looking more exhausted than usual. _How long have I been sitting here?_

"Seto?" His blue eyes seemed to be pulled out of his thoughts and looked at me, he did something he hasn't done in a while. He _smiled._

"I know who she is, Mokuba, and now all I have to do is find her and get my prototype back." He seemed... **excited**. Excited that there was a chase about to ensue and that he had something other than his work to focus on, which was unusual. I looked down at my food, he never did anything with me anymore.

"Mokuba, do you want to stop your studies and help me look for her?" He asked, I had to look up at him to see if he was serious, and surprisingly- he was. He began to eat the food that was served to him as he brought up a hologram of his company's profits and other information, he mumbled into something in his ear and the hologram would respond in a woman's voice. I folded my arms,

"Seto." I half whined and half stated, his eyes snapped back to reality as he looked at the source of the noise- me. He grinned at me and took out the device from his ear and put it on the table.

"You're right, Mokuba, no technology at the table. You never answered my question." He began to eat the main course that had been brought out seconds before, looking at me.

"Seto, I've already hired someone." I closed one eye, looking away, waiting for him to explode. But he didn't, instead he picked up his device and I think he called someone.

"Kazuka, long time no see."

_How did he know?_ Kazuka was someone he always hired to find something out, but only as a last resort when he either didn't have the time or resources to find it out himself. There was a slight mumbling sound from Kazuka's end as she responded and Seto smiled.

"Smart mouthed as always, I see. How much did Mokuba say he'd pay you?" He got down to business real quick, but I'd had enough. I got up, scooting my chair noisily from the table on the wooden floor and walked towards the entrance way that connected the dinning room to the ball room. There were halls upon hallways in this house, someone could easily get lost if they didn't know the house like we did, I sighed realizing how empty it was.

"What are you doing home?" I heard someone whisper and my head whipped around.

"Hello?!" I called out, looking around and following after the shadow that had created almost noiseless footsteps, luckily the house was so empty that being quiet was impossible. The intruder ran quickly, he didn't even cast a shadow because he was so light on his feet. "Come back here!" I yelled as I began to stumble, we'd been running down endless hallways and my stamina wasn't in the best of shape. It almost seemed like he knew where he was going and did expect me to keep up.

"Don't strain yourself." The intruder whispered, irritatingly, _wait, was that a woman's voice?_ It **was** a woman's voice, _her_ voice. _I have to tell Seto!_ I stopped moving, panting, frozen for once in fear. Why was she here? She had gotten what she wanted before hadn't she? I heard her footsteps receding, moving away from me and towards a certain area. _That way leads to Seto's room!_

"Seto!" I called, hoping he would hear me as I moved towards his room, _I'll stop her. She won't get away again!_

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm really iffy about the next chapter and that one might take a little longer to write, but thank Ra we have school off Monday. Who knows I might update twice? Ah, well. Already working on ch. 5 but that will take a little time.**

**Does Mokuba actually catch up to her? Does Seto hear Mokuba's cry of warning? Do the Kaiba brothers finally meet this girl face to face AGAIN?**

**Please review, it makes me feel happy :)**


	5. The Bandit Returns

**A/N: So I decided that you guys deserved a double update since I left you last week without one and updated over the weekend. Zaara finally makes it to her hunting spot, and both the Kaiba brothers are home. What will happen now? Read on to find out!  
**

**Oh and a shout out to my followers/favoriters (Yes i know that isn't a word) THANKS SO MUCH! You guys are the reason I'm updating so early again, especially the ones that leave me reviews, I crave to hear more about what you think of the story so far!**

**Zaara's****POV****  
**When I left the house, I expected more people to be on the streets, but on my way to KaibaCorp I had to keep a low profile. I needed cover, so my mouth and chin had a bandana tied over it so they couldn't notice me. I quietly walked across the streets toward the Kaiba Mansion that was almost on the other side of Japan- or that's what it seemed like. The night was bitter cold, the wind biting at my revealed skin as I pulled my army jacket closer. _I really wish I'd grown my hair out..._

"Thanks, Kazuka!" I heard and had to duck behind a group of drunk people walking home, I hid amongst them. One of them decided to get a little handsy once they realized there was a female in their midst. They were easily taken care of once the main male got a swift kick in the jaw. I looked back at the Mansion, there was a car pulled up in the driveway of the Kaiba house, Mokuba was talking to the person inside of it. _Who is that person?_ I didn't recognize the car parked there and I had to move quickly before the vehicle pulled away. My eyes narrowed as I whispered something to my wrist, into my bracelet and it glowed. I dashed over the outer wall of the fence and over to the side of the house, hidden in the shadows. To the ordinary human eye it would seem that I disappeared and reappeared next to the house. Unfortunately, to those with Millennium items, as I quickly found out with Bakura the theif king, they can see my quick movements as clear as day. Mokuba made his way into the house as the phone rang for the fifth time, he picked up the phone and just barely missed the call.

I made my way across the roof, praying to Rah that I wouldn't slip on the shingles, my bracelet guiding me to what I seek. I saw a wall of windows and took a chance, sliding a mechanism that I used before on Kaiba's office window, the alarms were disarmed and I slid into the mansion hall with ease. I had to reach a high place before anyone saw me, so I jumped onto an armoire, hiding in the shadows. I heard Seto's voice echo throughout the hallways,

"Smart mouthed as always I see." I heard a door close and his voice was cut off, footsteps echoed throughout the long hallways. They were slow and seemed to give off a depressed aura. _Mokuba? Seto? I thought Mokuba would be in bed by now or with Seto, who's usually at the office at this time of night._

"What are you doing home?" I thought aloud as Mokuba entered the hallway I was discretely hiding in. _Crap! I just gave away my position._ I ducked away in my hiding place a little too late,

"Hello?!" Mokuba whipped around and I saw that as my oppurtunity to move, I dashed down the hall whispering to my wrist to help me dim the senses of others around me. My training may make me fast and quiet, but this bracelet makes me inhumanly fast and quiet. My footsteps were quiet but in this empty home they sounded as though I were running on eggshells. "Come Back here!" He yelled and I heard his footsteps dashing after me, I took off down the maze of hallways. Each hallway looked the same as I dashed down them, I heard Mokuba struggling to keep up with me and sighed as I slowed my speed so he could follow me. _I don't think I'm stealing anything tonight, Mokuba already knows I am here... _I realized that he had heard me whisper but he didn't recognize my voice, I had a choice: let Mokuba see me and realize who I am, or steal what I came here to steal and hurt Mokuba to get away. I stopped moving and at the same instant Mokuba hit the ground, stumbling over some carpet in the hallway.

"Don't strain yourself." I whispered to him, his eyes automatically widened as he realized who I was, then they narrowed. It seemed he was afraid of me, I casted my eyes downward as he had an internal war. _I can't hurt Mokuba, he's just a kid... I haven't hurt anyone so far doing this and I won't now._ So while he was distracted I took off down the corridor again, heading towards Seto's room, hoping I wasn't wrong about his briefcase in his room.

"Seto!" I heard him call, but it's too late, we're far away from the dining room where Seto was at. Mokuba stumbled to his feet and began to run after me now knowing where I was headed. I pushed an armoire full of China dishes over and it hit the ground causing a loud crash to resound throughout the entire Mansion,  
"Well, if Seto didn't know I was here before, he definitely does now." I mumbled, my breathing already labored, _I must be getting out of shape._ I took a sharp left, jumping off the wall so I wouldn't ram into it, and busted into the room that was Seto's. I closed the door behind me and locked it, pushing Seto's desk in front of it. I let out a sigh of relief and sat down against the desk.

"Finally, I can relax." I looked up at the window of his room, _this guy doesn't have anything in his room._ Although the room was dark, the rain outside began to pour and lightening lit the room I failed to see entirely. There were bookshelves stacked high and built into the wall with that weird rolley ladder attatched to them. _I guess a genious should have tons of books. _I stood to begin searching for what I wanted, the silver briefcase that always seemed to be glued to Seto Kaiba's hand. Even though the room was big, it seemed empty, aside from the king sized bed that seemed untouched for many days and the multiple desks and computers scattered throughout the humongous mansion room.

"It's like he doesn't even live here. He only works. This guy needs to learn how to have fun." I stated aloud to noone in particular, as I tugged at my shoulder length black hair, pulling it back into a tiny pony tail. I looked through his desks one by one, taking a while until I heard some sirens going off and the windows automatically were covered with a thick metal.

"This can't be good... Mokuba must have gotten to Seto..." As soon as the words were out of my mouth there was a banging on the door, I stiffened in response then rushed more quickly through the supplies that were laying around. _Where is the stupid_ _thing?_

"Give it up, lady!" Mokuba's voice rang through the silence, the sirens had died out after the windows were covered, the banging continued. I closed my eyes and put my ear to the floor, _hm... Multiple footsteps coming towards this direction, must be the Kaiba security force I outsmarted the other day. _I immediately decided that this was a situation of being caught or hurting someone, I didn't like either choice. I frantically searched for something that I could sell for good cash to buy groceries and other stuff with and something caught my eye. It was a photo of the Kaiba brothers when they were younger and still at the orphanage, there was a shy girl hiding in the background. That girl has changed a lot, even I can tell that. She isn't shy anymore but she's scared of others outside of her group of friends. I quickly stuffed it into my knapsack as the banging continued, but this time with reinforcements of brute force. I also grabbed a silver bracelet with a blue stone in the middle of it and wrapped that around my wrist.

"This is the Kaiba Security Force! Give up now before we get in and beat you to a pulp!" I chuckled quietly to myself, _these are the guys I practically had to beg to chase me last time I saw them._ I looked around for a weakness in the security and sure enough I found one,

"The air vents!" I exclaimed then clamped a hand over my mouth, _dang it, now they know I'm in here for certain._ I scaled one of the book ladders and ended up on the top of the bookshelves themselves, apparently there is an end to these things. The banging continued and I heard a gruff voice outside the door yelling at them,

"Why on Earth are you banging on my bedroom door." _Things just went from bad to worse! They don't know who I am and if I stay here any longer, they'll get me arrested!_ The body guards were apologizing to Seto as Mokuba explained the situation, I, on the other hand, was too busy unscrewing an air vent and climbing through it. I hopped into the freezing cold metal box and lifted the vent cover back up and whispered into my bracelet to turn into a small welding torch so I could weld the vent closed. I stopped breathing when the door got shoved open, the desk flying back as the footsteps quickly entered the room.

"I thought you said she was in here, Mokuba!" Seto yelled, obviously irritated that I was no longer in the room, "If she got away, how? And what did she take?" I could faintly see Seto moving throughout his room, his hand on his chin as he thought about everything that was in this particular room and what is misplaced. Thing was, I shuffled everything around and looked everywhere for something, anything, so everything was out of place. The fact hit him hard as he kicked a chair over from frustration.

"Seto, what happened to your picture?" Mokuba unfortunately pointed out, pointing to the headboard where the picture that I had swiped into my knapsack had remained until a few moments ago. Seto rushed to his bedside and frantically looked for that childhood photo of the three of us, _I'm burning it when I get home... If I get home._ Seto was getting more and more irritated as he cursed under his breath,

"Look for her everywhere! Don't leave a single area unchecked!" He yelled and they all responded with a loud 'yes sir' and scrambled out of the room, nearly knocking each other over. This was my chance to move, while Seto was too blind with rage to actually be aware of his surroundings and while Mokuba looked everywhere else for me. I shifted slightly so I could get to a crawling position and the vent creaked lightly, I froze and stopped breathing, hoping Seto didn't hear it and piece everything together. Apparently the sound was lost on him like I thought it would be so I continued forward, my breathing labored from all the extra work I had to put into this particular job. Emotionally and physically, this was one of the toughest ones I've done so far.

I crawled through the vents, hearing and occasionally seeing some of the body guards and Mokuba running through all the rooms and checking for me. The air was so cold in the vents that I could've freezed to death if I had decided to stake out in there longer than I needed to. I found an empty room and decided to get down, it's a long jump. The thunder outside cackled and the lightning zipped across the sky as I slid out of the safety of the vents into enemy waters, into the chance of getting caught. I landed softly on my feet and bent my knees at the right moment to take the shock of the landing. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I looked around to see what room I had jumped into and stood. The curtains of the giant windows were pulled back and the rain drops battered against the glass,

"This looks like a nursery..." My eyes were wide from confusion and shock as I looked around at the toy ridden floor, the carpeted floor dusty from not being stepped on in apparently a long time. There were toys for young boys every where and instead of it being a nursery, I realized it was a young mans room. _The Kaiba brothers don't have a third brother, someone would've known... Who's room is this?_ My eyes darted around to find some sort of evidence of to whom the owner was. I walked around and sifted through some of the items on a dresser and desk, looking for a picture frame of the family at least. There were tons of papers from tutors and other subjects aside from the four core ones. Dust got stirred up and I covered my mouth coughing, hopefully no one comes around in this area. Lightning struck again and a glint of metal from my peripheral got me to find what I was searching for.

I picked up the picture frame and found Gozuburo Kaiba standing with a small child with turquoise colored hair. The child smiled looking up at his father, his father did the same, looking down at him. I took the picture out and looked at the back,

"Gozuburo and Noah Kaiba... Who's Noah? Why haven't we seen him before...?" I frowned, realizing that he probably died at the age seen in this picture, otherwise there would've been different pictures of him growing. It would explain why Gozuburo adopted the Kaiba brothers. _Wait a second, the windows aren't covered anymore!_ I whipped my head to look at the lightning storm that raged outside and blinked a few times,

"I guess they must've assumed I was gone after checking the house..." I rushed to the door and threw it open, covering my mouth so the dust didn't disturb my senses. I closed the golden door silently behind me and began down the hallways once more. "Impossible, Seto never gives up on a search..." I heard some chatter from some bodyguards and ducked into a random door to my right, closing it and putting my ear to it to listen.

"Kaiba never gives up a search, I wonder why he gave up on this girl after she stole that photo and bracelet of his." One of them stated, offering the other his opinions on the subject of what just happened. The other nodded, adjusting his sunglasses,

"It's because he believes she'll come back. He thinks she didn't get what she was coming for, Duel Cards." I gasped and they stopped, looking around, I quickly covered my mouth, closing my eyes. _Please keep walking, please keep walking, please keep walking..._ and as if hearing my pleas, they continued with a shrug of their shoulders. "Phew," I sighed, sliding down the door to the floor.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Aren't you the theif? Zaara." I gasped and looked up to see a smug looking Seto Kaiba, his hands holding an open book as he grinned triumphantly at me.

**A/N: Dun dun duuuuunnn! Kaiba has finally caught his thief! But now that he has her, how is he going to keep her there and what will he do with her? Finals are done and I'm looking forward to graduation this weekend! Keep checking readers, I may update again soon just for the heck of it! Depends on how fast I get to the next few chapters -_-' *sigh* anyways! Thanks for reading!**

**Ciao!**

**Zaara. 3**


	6. Thief Caught! Enter: Bakura and Marik!

**A/N: Hey Readers! Guess what time it is?! UPDATE TIME! I'm so excited to see how the next few chapters panel out for you the readers :) I'm trying to work ahead for you guys so I'm not late again *sweatdrop* ehehe, I feel like Kakashi Sensei, always being late. But I do get lost on the path of life... Oops sorry, anyways, to the story!**

**Bakura's POV**

I rushed over to the Kaiba mansion with my partner in crime, Marik. We had planned to place a prank in Kaiba's room or at one place or another, but as soon as we reached the house, sirens went off and the windows and doors were sealed.

"Gah! What the heck?! How in the hell could he possibly know we're here?!" Marik exclaimed, confused as hell. I couldn't be more surprised, usually it takes us a few minutes on the inside of the Kaiba mansion for Kaiba to catch us in the act and then call the cops. But apparently he's not feeling like any fun tonight. I looked at my golden haired friend,

"I doubt he actually knows we're here. It must be that girl from earlier that stole from his Corperation. She must be back to steal something else."

"That's a real grudge she's holding if she keeps stealing from him." I sweatdropped and looked up at the roof,

"Come on, idiot. We've got some climbing to do." I stated, smacking my friend on the head before climbing up the gutter pipe. The night air was crisp and I could smell the moisture circulating in the air, if we weren't quick, we'd be caught in the rain. On the roof. In a lightening storm. I sighed aloud, _how did I let Marik talk me into this tonight? _I earned a strange look from Marik as we made our way up the gutter pipe, we were onto the second story pipe when I heard a creak and looked down in time to see Marik's surprised look.

"Marik, quick, grab onto a windowsill!" I hissed, his eyes suddenly hardened as he swung himself off the pipe and onto the nearest windowsill. At the same moment Marik hit the windowsill, lightening struck and it started pouring down rain. Great. The pipe creaked again and it was my turn to give a surprised look, "If I fall from this height, I could die." I could feel my heart rate quicken as the Millennium Ring glowed brightly and I was lifted from the pipe and levitated to the windowsill. _What the hell?_ _It's never done _**that**_before._ Marik looked at me as if he'd seen a ghost and I shrugged,

"Come on, Marik, you know weird stuff happens with the Millennium Items, you have the rod after all." I sighed when he nodded and turned around, I didn't feel like explaining the fact that the Millennium Ring hummed when I was in danger and somehow I always managed to get out. Sometimes I'd black out, but sometimes, there'd be this... _presence_. I shook my head of the idea and watched as the windows were uncovered and we snuck into the window,

"Finally, some luck." Marik stated, crawling into the dark room. "Which room are we in now? Kaiba's? Mokuba's?" He questioned, looking around for some sign as to which it was. I looked around as well and realized we were in the study, Gozuburo's study. No one ever comes in here, unless Kaiba decides he needs one of Gozuburo's books or notes, and that's rare.

"We're in Gozuburo's study. And it seems as though it hasn't been used in quite some time. So we're safe, for now." Marik looked at me with a wicked grin and I returned the evil smile. We ran to the closed door and unlocked it, opening it into the lit hallway we checked both ways before coming out and closing the door behind us. We heard footsteps scrambling all over the mansion,

"What's going on?" Marik asked, I swear the idiot was smarter when it came to tricks and pranks than anything else. "The intruder, remember? They must still be searching for her..." I reminded him, running down the hallway, hoping my slow friend would keep up with me. Turns out he was right beside me in an instant.

"There seems to be some guards coming our way, my dear friend. Shall we hide in a different study?" I grinned at Marik's offer to stay in the other dusty study, a few years back we had broken into the mansion and found a dusty study that had a turquoise haired boy in a picture in there. It wasn't used for a long while, and we figured it still hasn't been used. We ran down the fancy hallways, all the things on pedal stools and hanging on the walls so tempting to take and sell, but we haven't time for that. If something else is already happening in this mansion, then we have to be quick and thorough.

"In here," grabbing Marik's arm, I shoved us into a room, just as some guards flew by. I sighed, _this is as much workout as I need tonight._ I heard another voice in a room nearby and found a door, connecting this room to the one next to it. I motioned for Marik to follow me, he nodded, both of us thinking the same thing. _Who is it and who are they talking to?_ We both leaned our ear against this door that connected us and we heard Kaiba's voice.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Aren't you the theif? Zaara." Kaiba stated, we could hear the smugness in his comment as a book slammed shut, we heard a small gasp as the words were said. Our eyes met and we both wondered who could be in there, the theif? It must be the theif from earlier today.

_"Sorry guys, gatta go! Nice meeting you!" The black haired girl smiled with a laugh and ran off, being chased by KaibaCorp thugs. She moved with the ease of a feline and the strength of a bear. The moves she displayed proved that she had advanced knowledge of fighting and medical training. This isn't any ordinary woman. She easily avoided the thugs, something Marik and I had to work at, when she just outran them and outsmarted them easily as if tricking a three year old. Obviously it isn't her first heist and it wouldn't be her last._

"I thought you were in the dining room downstairs, Seto." A breathless voice stated, surprise plain as her tone. There was a shuffling sound as something was set down and it sounded like the woman stood up.

"I finished dinner right after the sirens started going off." Kaiba responded, footsteps sounding and something hit the door. It didn't sound like whatever hit the door bounced off, the girl must have backed into it as Kaiba moved towards her. "You've changed a lot, haven't you... Zaara?" That's what the girls name was, Zaara! I looked at Marik and he gave me a devious expression,

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if we bursted in and saved the day?"

"For whom? Kaiba, or this Zaara girl?" We both grinned and knew the answer to that, Zaara it is. The door flew open and we fell down, looking up to see an angry Seto Kaiba.

**Zaara's POV**

_Who are those idiots? They started whispering to each other when the only noise for a few hundred feet was only me and Seto talking. Wait- _an image of a group of teenagers from earlier today flashed through my mind- _these guys are from that group of kids earlier today, the ones I hid behind to escape the Kaiba thugs!_ The two guys had fallen when Seto opened the door and I could feel myself sweatdrop, Seto on the other hand, looked pissed as could be. The smug smile was long gone and was replaced by an irritated frown.

"What are you two tricksters doing here?" He growled, lifting the darker one up by his shirt. The one he had a grip on smiled nervously and closed his eyes, waving his hand around,

"Just coming to visit, you know, nostalgia and all that." The white haired one seemed to recover slower than the other one and stood up with a defiant look in his eyes.

"We came to pick up our friend, Zaara, there you are!" He grinned and came over, pulling me away from the door and wrapping an arm around my waist. His mouth was next to my ear as he faced away from Seto, "Play along and you won't get arrested." He turned around and grinned at me... lovingly? I blinked rapidly, confused for a second, but that was all the dark one needed,

"Yeah, we came to come pick up Zaara and tell her that our little pranking session had to be held off until tomorrow," he sighed, giving Seto a shrug of his shoulders and another sigh. "Obviously, we didn't get to her in time. Sorry about that, Kaiba-boy, so we'll just take Zaara, here, and be on our merry wa-!" He had began to walk away from Seto and Seto yanked on his collar, pulling him back so they could be face to face.

"Aw, look, Seto has a crush." I stated, picking up the attitudes of these two weirdos. Seto automatically gave me an angry glare, and I would've flinched had I not had the white haired guys arm around my waist.

"Marik, stop messing around. We have to get home so Ishizu doesn't kill you for sneaking out again." The one with his arm around me stated, Marik slid out of his purple overshirt and yanked it from Seto's grasp. Seto looked at his hands in shock as I was pushed out the door by the white haired one. "Come on, move!" He ordered and I did as I was told, Marik following behind us and laughing. He closed the door in Seto's face and a roar of anger could be heard. I didn't look back, mostly because I wasn't using my bracelet to help me run faster and because the white haired one had a hold of my wrist. Marik caught up to the white haired one and grabbed my other wrist, both of them dragging me along.

"Hey! Wait! Who are you two?" They both looked at each other for a second before the one called Marik ducked under an arm, which was aimed for his face, picked me up, and dashed behind the white haired one. Which he had kicked the big man in the face while he was focused on Marik, then joined us again. "Put me down, I am more than capable of running!" I spazzed, turning a shade of red, Marik just smirked at my bewildered face.

"Bakura, are you right behind us?" He asked, not bothering to turn around and see him right there, Bakura nodded his head with a grunt and they both began to run faster, dodging the artifacts and bodyguards as if they did this all the time. _Who are these guys? Bakura and Marik? They seemed like trivial idiots when I first saw them, but they move as diligently as I do. _I was jolted back to reality when we hit the front door, Bakura bursted through it, knocking it open and causing himself to ungracefully trip and stumble. Marik just chuckled, his chest rocking against me while he did so. I turned a new shade of red in the process, I don't deal with guys my age a lot, if I do, it's to give them orders.

"Shut up, you imbecile and keep moving!" Bakura's raspy voice sounded behind us, his footsteps slapping against the concrete walkway from the front door to the gate.

"How are you guys getting past the gate?" I asked, curious to see if they thought ahead, they both grinned at me as Bakura jumped over the inner wall. I knew what they were up to, "no, no, no, no, NOOO!" I squealed, being tossed over the inner wall, I didn't stop until I felt Bakura's arms holding me. _After we get to safety, I'm going to kill these two._ I have never been so humiliated in my life, strangers helping me, making me feel more like a girl than ever when I need to be a troop instead of a useless feminine teenage girl. Ugh!

"So, you were worried about the gate, were you?" Bakura's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I realized how close his face was to mine- I really need to stop thinking like this... He chuckled and his chest did the same thing Marik's did when he laughed, making me turn red again.

"Just get me the hell out of here so I can kick your asses for making me seem like a damsel in distress." I stated, turning my head away from Bakura's chest as I saw Marik finally drift over the inner wall. He had some blood on him, my eyes widened at the sight.

"Is Marik okay?" I asked, my voice starting to reach the point of hysteria instead of anger now. Bakura looked back for a second and grimaced,

"He'll be fine, I can almost guarantee you it isn't his blood." He continued running with me in his arms until he hit the second wall, he glanced back at Marik and Marik jumped over us, over the wall, and yelled-

"Toss her over!"

"Don't I get a say in this?"

"No!" Both boys responded, rather harshly, and I got tossed over, "We don't have enough time to stop."

"If you let me down, even drop me, I can run just fine."

"Hey! Get back here you three!" A deep voice yelled, there were guards pouring out of the inner wall and out of the gate that led outside the compound. Bakura just barely made it as the gate opened and ran past us,

"Keep up, Marik!" He yelled back at him, Marik ran as fast as he could, but I could tell they were both already tired as it was. Sirens sounded in the distant,

"Did he call the cops on us?!" I asked, hysteria in my voice, _no one's actually called the cops on me before, they usually just let me get away with it because it's so little supplies!_ Bakura seemed irritated at my hysteria and at the cops,

"We have to find a hiding place, my place isn't too far from here." Bakura stated, and a silent order was sent to Marik, I looked up at Marik.

"Put me down, you're getting too tired to run with both our weight. I can run." I told him, begging him to put me down, we are all in this now. I doubt Seto has ever called the cops on these two before, and now it's my fault that he has now. Marik's purple eyes looked down into my blue ones and he sighed, nodding. As he ran he slowly leaned so he could put my feet on the ground, I automatically copied his speed and ran beside him, grabbing his hand. "I can run faster than both of you, either keep up or be dragged." I grabbed Bakura's hand next, "Just tell me where to go!" They both nodded, accepting a girls help for now, they don't seem like the kind of guys to ask for help unless it's absolutely necessary.

"Take two fences and then dodge to the left." Bakura's voice was right next to my ear, that or my senses are hyperaware. I nodded and hopped over the two fences, nearly getting bitten by some rottweilers in the second yard, I had to lift the guys up above me in order for us to land on the fence.

"Left!"

"I know!"

"Slow down you guys! I think we lost them!"

"Doubt it," Bakura and I replied snidely, both of us obviously irritated that he called the cops on us. "Almost there, just another block, and Ryou should be out waiting for us."

"Ryou? What the hell is he doing up? Isn't it past his bedtime?" Marik responded, rolling his eyes, Bakura's chocolate brown eyes narrowed angrily. Apparently this Ryou is very important to him... I'm so confused. I ran faster, sweat beading on my brow and my heart rate through the roof. My breaths coming in short pants and the two boys I was dragging along began to argue.

"Shut up!" I yelled, exhausted as hell already, I think they looked at me and saw how tired I was because they began to drag me. We had gone nearly four miles away from the Kaiba Mansion. I think I'm reaching my limit of sprinting for four miles. My eyes began to get heavy and I was suddenly thankful for these two strangers who saved me today. Twice apparently.

"She's gonna pass out."

"I noticed, imbecile. Are you going to pick her up or shall I?"

I shook my head, "I... I'm f-fine. I can keep going." I stuttered, my body beggining to reject what the Millennium Bracelet had given me earlier and more recently a few miles ago. Once the Millennium Bracelet has stopped being used, the effects on the body can be: exhaustion, dehydration, muscle loss, memory loss, and a few other things I don't want to remember this second. I feel an arm slide around my waist and my eyes snap open to see soft brown eyes, _we've stopped moving_.

"What do you think you're doing, Bakura?" I asked, bitterly. He seemed a little hurt, and scared of the venom in my voice. Bakura winced and looked as though he were going to let me go,

"I'm sorry, but you have me confused with my twin brother, I'm Ryou." _A british accent? Now I'm even more confused, there are two of him?_ I looked up at him and saw the real Bakura coming back out of the house with some ice and water. Ryou slid his arm around my waist again, looking at me to see if I would bite his head off like before, but I just nodded.

"Let's get her inside, Kaiba called the cops."

"What?! What did you two do now? Bringing home a half conscious woman, cops are chasing you, Kaiba is furious, and now you both are physically exhausted!" Ryou didn't like the way this was sounding, but he carried me in nonetheless and laid me down on a couch. I sighed and closed my eyes, welcoming the sleep that I had been eluding.

"I'll explain later, right now we need to cool her down. She's overheating, and fast." Bakura explained, placing ice bags on my exposed skin, he reached for my army jacket.

"Don't touch that." I growled, with what little energy I had left, I narrowed my eyes and dark circles began to dance around in my vision. "When did Marik have a twin brother? How many of you guys are... th...er..."

Darkness.

**A/N: I know Yugi and the others haven't been in the story much, but now that Zaara's with Bakura and his little group, maybe Yugi's idea won't be completely insane? Maybe? Yeah? Okay...**

**Well, there's chapter 6 for you, granted the title kind of gave away what would happen... No? I guess it was just me then XD anyways, onto chapter 7! How excited are you to see how Ryou will scold the two in the morning? Especially with Ishizu and Odion worried about Marik not returning home, and covered in blood nonetheless. MWAHAHA! :3**

**Well, review, follow, I love it all :) even PM me!**

**Later!**

**Zaara, out!**


	7. Meet The Gang

**A/N: Hey, hey, hey! No it's not fat albert, it's me! Your friendly neighborhood writer! Time for another update! Man it's been a busy past couple of weeks, I had to sing at a wedding, my friend directed the wedding choir, graduation was a few weeks back, and I just got back from a family wedding in Colorado!? Man busy, busy, busy! Plus foot therapy!? Jeez this world is out to get me *sigh***

**Well I've been writing a ton of chapters for you, mainly I wrote part of chapter 5, all of 6, and most of 7 in one day. Aren't you guys proud of me? *hears a bunch of yelling outside my door* Eh!? You're upset because I didn't update them!? Well I have to keep updating at certain times, right? TT_TT no? okay...**

**Third Person POV**

"You see, Yugi, I didn't know what to do when these three came home in the conditions they're in." Ryou explained, his passionate brown eyes underlined with dark circles of worry for his brother and stranger that he brought with him. Yugi nodded, looking up at his brother Atem,

"What do you think?"

Atem seemed to consider something for a moment before smiling, "I think she robbed Kaiba again last night. Don't these two usually go do something devious in the middle of the night? They probably ran into each other and that's when the cops came in. The girl was running from the cops after robbing Kaiba and bumped into these two."

"You're only half right, pharaoh." Marik's voice rang through the silence as he came down the stairs, he looked exhausted just being awake. "I'll tell you the story, but you have to promise not to tell Ishizu and Odion, or else my skin won't be around much longer." Yugi and Atem looked at each other and sighed, why did they always have to get dragged into these things? Why couldn't they have normal lives? They both knew the answers and it was obvious: because their destinies changed whenever they received the Millennium Puzzle.

"Alright, I guess we have no choice if we want to know the truth of what happened here." Atem sighed, looking up at his friend, _it looks as though he's going to pass out any moment... what happened last night?_

"Marik, why don't you sit down?" Ryou offered the seat at the kitchen table, they were all gathered around the table: Atem, Yugi, Ryou, Marik, and Bakura would soon join them. Marik nodded and huffed a sigh as he sat down on the comfy chair at the head of the table.

"You see... It started when Bakura and I were heading to Kaiba's house to just lay a small prank out for him, it wouldn't have hurt him. But then it started raining and the pipe broke and-"

"What pipe? Marik you aren't making any sense!" Yugi yelled, for once the small boy was irritated, not just because his friends have been put out of commission for a while, but because a seemingly innocent girl got hurt.

"Let me tell you from when we got to the mansion then." Marik proceeded to tell them the story of when they got to the mansion, what they heard from Kaiba, and how they re-met Zaara- the girl that was currently passed out on the couch. Marik didn't leave out any details because these were his friends, they've saved his skin multiple times from the wrath of Ishizu.

"Then the three of us ran four miles to get here, each of us carrying our own weight until we got here, then the girl blacked out outside." Marik finished, the twins looked at him bewildered, Ryou looked as though he were about to faint from the panic attack he was about to have. "But don't worry Ryou, I'm pretty sure Kaiba didn't call those cops, a concerned neighbor might have though. Kaiba isn't one to call for help, and when he does, it isn't the authorities he calls on." Marik explained, dismissing Ryou's worries with two sentences. Ryou sighed with relief and then looked at Marik,

"So the blood on you, it's from the guards, right?"

"Uh.." he looked down on himself, "I did have a few stab wounds... but they seemed to have disappeared..." He blinked confused, _I remember... Zaara healed them... with some sort of power._

_He tossed and turned, groaning in pain from the stab wounds he had received from those pesky guards from KaibaCorp._ Stupid thugs._ He thought, he cried out in pain once, but bit his lip, cutting it off. He then heard a small shuffling sound downstairs and dared to test his strength. He sat up in bed and attempted to stand, but a pale hand pushed his shoulder back down._

_"What the-? Zaara, what are you doing?" He whispered, blushing slightly as the girl pushed him back down on the bed. He winced in pain and watched as the girl crawled on top of him, Zaara kissed his forehead and he began to get drowsy again._

_"I'm going to heal you, don't freak out... okay?" She whispered to him, her icy blue eyes showing actual emotion. Ever since they were at the Kaiba Mansion, he worried that she might be like Bakura, only certain people can get any emotion other than irritation out of him. This girl, Zaara, she wanted to heal his wounds, he wasn't sure how, but he nodded. She nodded back and climbed off of him, she took a deep breath, wincing herself from the utter exhaustion of the chase and breaking into the Kaiba Mansion in the first place. She whispered something illegible to her wrist and her bracelet seemed to glow, but as soon as it was there, it vanished. The glow then appeared on her fingertips,_

_"This may hurt a little. I'm sorry I put you through this." Zaara whispered, biting her soft bottom lip. Marik closed his eyes as her fingers daintily danced across his body, finding the spots where it hurt and the pain subsided rather quickly. Marik wondered how she knew to do this, but it was lost on him the moment the pain went away. _

_"We wanted to help, don't... apologize." Marik responded, he felt his motor skills slowing down, what was happening? His lids began to get heavier and heavier as the girl smiled softly,_

_"I'm sorry." The last words he heard her say before sleeping until morning, when he awoken, the sun hadn't risen quite yet. Marik had always been an early riser, and he knew that the twins wouldn't be awake quite yet. They still had a few hours to go. He shifted in bed, sitting up and heard a groan next to him. Nearly jumping out of his skin, Marik got out of the bed._

_"Did I- did we- what happened?" Images of last night flashed through his mind, "She must've healed me then passed out on the spot like I did." He figured, picking her up, he headed down the stairs with his blanket wrapped around her. The girl was freezing, the ice must have done the trick because she was snuggling to any warmth she could find. That could also explain why she stayed with him last night, Marik blushed at the image of her sleeping peacefully next to him._

_"You stay down here now... I'm going back to bed." He gently laid the girl back down on the couch where she belonged, his muscles screaming at him to lay back down instead of moving around. "I probably should rest for the next few hours, no doubt Ryou will call one of the others for help." He sighed, looking once again at the woman on the couch, intrigued about what her story could be. Shrugging, "another time maybe," he said. With that he walked back up the stairs and passed back out onto the bed, sleeping until he heard the spikey haired twins entering the home._

"Marik? Hello? Earth to Marik?" Yugi was waving his hand in front of Marik's face. He must've spaced out remembering last nights turn of events! Marik jumped slightly, causing the small boy to yelp from surprise and fall back. Atem couldn't help but laugh at the bewildered expressions on the two boys faces.

"Well, I see you aren't quite feeling yourself yet, hm, Marik?" Atem questioned, and Marik couldn't help but feel he had some sort of insight into his mind. Maybe Atem could read what was in the eyes.

"What time is it? Why are you all here so early?" Bakura snapped, making his way down the stairs, all three of the boys "shh-ed" him. Bakura woke up enough to fall backwards from the force of the sh and it caused the girl on the couch to jump awake. _Well that's creepy,_ thought Bakura.

**Zaara's POV**

_Voices... I hear voices... all of them are so warm... why am I so relaxed around these voices? I feel like I know all of them.. from somewhere._

_I walked through the beautiful oasis garden that we had planted here, the Pharaoh and I,_

_"Isn't wonderful, my Pharaoh? Doesn't it look beautiful this time of year?" I inquired, wanting to hear his opinion, the spikey haired shadow responded with a smile and a slight chuckle._

_"Yes, Zaara, but aren't we missing a few touches?"_

_"Like what, my Pharaoh?" It was my turn to inquire something, he just smiled at me again and pulled me close, I blushed furiously at my long time friend's hug. "My Pharaoh, what do you think you are doing?" I pulled away with a you-know-better-than-to-touch-me-face, my smile making him laugh boisterously. _

_"This is why we are good friends, my Zaara. You treat me as a human being, not as just your Pharaoh." He sighed, looking out over the horizon, then a shadow jumped over the outer wall of the garden._

_"Pharaoh?"_

_"I see him. So the King of Thieves has returned." He announced, another shadow grinning with evil pride._

_"It seems as though the garden isn't as empty as I hoped it would be. I came to see the girl. I've been watching her for some days now, and I decided she'd be a great add to my followers." The King of Thieves explained, stepping closer and gripping my chin in his hand. It was meant as a gesture to show power, but instead, his hand was gentle._

_"If you want her," the Pharaoh summoned the Dark Magician, causing the King of Thieves to retreat a ways away, "Come and get her." He threatened, stepping in front of me._

_"Pharaoh, no! Just leave him be! He will leave soon enough, my Pharaoh!" The King of Thieves looked nervously at the Dark Magician before using his Millennium Ring to try and change the Dark Magician's heart. I ran towards them, hoping to stop them,_

_"Please! Stop! You'll kill each other!" I begged, running right between the two powerful beings, the magic heading for each other now aimed at me._

_"No!" They both exclaimed, but it was too late-_

I shot up in my bed- this isn't my bed. _Where the hell am I?_ I looked around to see a white haired man on the floor, and obviously in pain.

"Where...?" Last nights events played through my head and I gripped my ribcage in pain, falling back into the couch.

"Zaara!" A group of people exclaimed, _that sounds like more than just Marik, Bakura, and Ryou to me..._ Spikey haired twins made their way to me, both had worry on their faces plain as day. Ryou had run into the kitchen, probably to grab something for the pain. Marik and Bakura had stood but both gripped some part of their own bodies because of the fighting and running they had done last night. Even though I had healed Marik, he was supposed to stay in bed today, I guess I didn't tell him that.

"I'm fine." I smiled at them, it was a fake smile I had learned to give after my two best friends had left me. The smile I give my kids, my family when I know that something is about to go wrong for me, but I smile to keep them out of the trouble. "I promise it's just a little muscle cramping, that's all." I smiled, looking down at myself. _I'm covered in scratches and bruises, I think I broke my left arm, that or it's dislocated._ I could feel the muscles in my neck growing weak, my body won't take much more of this. "I just need... some...tea." I yawned and felt myself begin to fall sideways, off the couch, but I never made it to the ground.

**Atem's** **POV**

_She's about to pass out again!_ All of us made different movements after seeing her wince in pain. I'm not sure any of us know why we care so much, but we do. Marik and Bakura winced in pain themselves, probably injuries from last night, Ryou ran into the kitchen to grab some medicine, Yugi and I ran towards her, she was heading for the ground. Fast.

"I've got you." I mumbled once my arms were held fast around her, it felt familiar, holding her like this. I shook the thoughts from my head. I looked down at her, _where did she get all those scars?_ There were darker marks on her body that I knew as scars, they showed through underneath all the cuts and bruises. Zaara would flinch in pain when I would touch her left side along her arm.

"Ryou, can you tell me what's wrong with her arm?" I asked as the kind eyed fellow ran into the room with a cup of warm tea. It probably has some medicinal herbs in it, knowing Ryou. Only he can mix these things up. He looked at her, bewildered for a moment before nodding, now determined to help her.

"Let me get these two back in bed and I'll see to her as soon as I can, Atem." He ran over to his twin first and helped him up, Ryou's arm around Bakura's waist, and Bakura's arm around Ryou's shoulder, the younger twin dragged the older upstairs the best he could. Marik had passed out at the table from the pain, whatever happened to these three, it wasn't normal. They say it was just a chase, but there has to be a third factor in here somewhere. **(A/N: Explanation? :P the Millennium Bracelet she wears, it effected the two she used it on to heal them. She usually takes all the damage but her body last night couldn't take it so the item vented the effects elsewhere. Bakura and Marik were right there :/) **I lifted Zaara up gently and put her back on the couch, propping up pillows so she could breath properly whilst asleep like this. I sighed,

"Who is this girl... and why does everyone fuss over her? Why..." I gasped, my eyes glued to the golden insignia on her right wrist, "Is that...?" Lifting up her hand, which stayed limp, I inspected the golden bracelet on her wrist. _I've never heard of the Millenium Bracelet... _

"Ryou," I called, the white haired one rushing down the stairs, the confusion and hysteria of this new discovery plain in my voice as Yugi looked at the item as well.

"Where did she get this? It's like all the Millennium Items are drawn together for some reason. First there's Pegasus inviting us to Duelist Kingdom, taking our grandpa's soul, and Bakura with his Millennium Ring, Marik with the Millennium Rod, us with the Millennium Puzzle, and now her with the Millennium Bracelet. It's almost eerie." Yugi thought aloud, and Ryou and I both nodded, Ryou now understanding what's going on. I looked up in time to see a pair of icy blue eyes intently staring at me,

"You're awake-"

SLAP!

I blinked a few times, not entirely sure of what had just happened, _did she just... __slap me? _

"What was that for?" I yelled, standing. She had a slight blush across her features but her eyes had a slight tearing to them, she stood up as well, getting into my face.

"Next time think before you start touching an unconscious woman, and **_never_** touch my bracelet!" She quickly wiped her eyes and grabbed her army jacket off the couch, "I've wasted enough time here. I have to get home!" It looked as though the realization that she spent the night here hit her, hard. She gasped and pulled out her phone, quickly dialing a number she put the phone to her ear.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up, pick up." She repeated until she heard something on the other end of the phone, she then sighed in relief.

"Sakura? I'm so sorry about not showing up last night, after the pick up I ran into some trouble and had to run about like the wrath of Rah were on my heels." There was some yelling as the three of us stood there, confused as hell, she winced and sighed.

"I understand that the children must be worried sick, tell Sami that mommie will be home soon. Tell Zane to be strong, I'm alright and that I'll bring home a treat for him if he's behaving, okay?" _Children? Does she have kids? _I looked her over, _no she's too young, and her body doesn't look like those afte_r _having children. It sounds like she has two. _"Okay, thanks Sakura-chan, I owe you lots. I'm so sorry I know I must've worried you guys. I'll be home soon." She hung up and turned to us, as if finally realizing that she had an audience,

"You have kids?" I asked, and she rolled her icy blue eyes rimmed with grey and speckled with gold,

"I treat them like my kids, they're actually- wait why am I explaining this to you? It's not like I'll see you guys again." She sighed and bowed lowly, "Thank you for your hospitality and tell the other two I said thank you for their help last night," she stood straight with a genuine smile that I could tell was fake, "I must get home to my little ones." She slid on her green army jacket and pulled her hair into a small pony tail, her eyes avoiding ours entirely.

"Why don't you let one of us walk you home? I could go." Yugi's soft purple eyes locked with her cold blue ones and her eyes seemed to soften upon looking at Yugi,

"Alright. But not all the way home, got it? I don't want my kids thinking you're going to be a new addition to our little family." She seemed amused by an idea she had in her head, "on the other hand, I'll introduce you. They'd love a new friend. I need to take them out today too," she began to ramble, thinking aloud about today's plans.

"We'll come too." Ryou stated, "You're arm isn't in the best of conditions and once we get to a place where you're more comfortable I could help you heal it, or possibly relocate it." The offer stood for only a moment as she sighed for the millionth time today already,

"Alright, but this is the only time I'm being this nice okay?" She stood and took my hand and Yugi's, pulling us to the door, "Coming, Ryou?"

"Just a moment, let me write a note-"

"I'm leaving~," she yelled from outside the front door to him and he nearly had a heart attack at being left behind with two unconscious thieves in his house. Ryou ran after the three and into the street, following Zaara to her home, which all of them were silently wondering where she grew up and why she became the mask of a cold girl today.

**A/N: Hey guys! What a chapter, huh? Well already working on Chapter 9, want a spoiler? Zaara takes the three boys to meet her kids and the kids won't let these boys leave. :) I love kids, they're so much fun, mwahaha! And yes I realize that Sami from before looks like a mini version of Kisara, but sadly she is NOT the reincarnation mer :P**

**Until next time!**

**Zaara :P**


	8. The Real Zaara, Revealed

**A/N: Ahh, another day, another chapter, another update. *sigh* I had writers block for a while, plus insomnia, and no the insomnia doesn't help with my writing, thanks for your concern XD ANYWAYS, last chapter recap:**

**The boys were saving Zaara's butt and wonder how a girl that grew up in the same city as them turned into such a cold person, on the outside that is. Will the gang see Zaara for who she is? Or will they just assume they've picked up another troublesome friend like Marik and Bakura?**

**Read on to find out!**

"I'm leaving~," I yelled at Ryou, not really caring if he followed us or not, someone needs to take care of the two in bed anyways. Those two will probably freak out when they wake up and find no one in the house. Ryou is probably leaving a note, I shook my head and began walking faster, still dragging the spikey haired twins behind me. Something was tugging for the attention of my thoughts, something that happened a long time ago, but not that far away.

"Ugh!" I sighed, causing a strange look from the twins as Ryou raced down the walkway to catch up,

"Wait up! I'm coming with you!" Ryou began to run faster until he bumped into us, not realizing I stopped and released the twins from my hold. "Where are we going anyways?" He asked, rubbing his nose which had rammed into Atem's back, who was now twitching slightly.

"We're going to my home." I mumbled, but apparently they heard me as clear as bells,

"Why would you take us there? We've only met-" Yugi had started to question me and I put a hand up, stopping him midsentence. I narrowed my eyes at him,

"Yugi, Marik and Bakura risked themselves to save me when they only knew me as a thief. Ryou took care of me and took me into his own home, not knowing who I was and seeing me bloodied and battered. You and Atem ran over here as fast as you could when Ryou called, concerned about the three of us. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the one who should be questioning you and why you guys would accept a stranger so freely in your midst. Especially with Duelist Kingdom right around the corner." The three of them looked at each other then at me, nodding, they stayed quiet and waited for me to continue,

"Are you guys going, to Duelist Kingdom, I mean?"

"I have to get my grandfather's soul back from Pegasus, so of course we're going." Yugi and Atem said simultaneously, _talk about twin telepathy._ Ryou just nodded his head, "And I'm going because I feel they'll need me and Bakura at one point or another." The twins seemed slightly surprised, this must be the first they're hearing of this.

"You_'_re staying here, Ryou. We need someone to stay with our grandfather in case he wakes up while we're away." Atem said kindly, looking at his friend with hopeful eyes. Ryou smiled back and nodded, "I'll stay here as well then, I need to be here when the others awaken." Yugi stopped him,

"Actually, I should stay here. They listen to me as well as they listen to you, Ryou, besides. You are the only one that can heal her completely like you said, and you're the whole reason she's taking you and Atem with her." Ryou sighed in agreement and nodded again, watching as Yugi walked back into the house, waving with a smile.

"People sure listen to you a lot, don't they?" I rolled my eyes and began to walk but stopped,

"What's the matter?" Atem asked, I laughed nervously,

"I have no idea where we are." If I were a cartoon I would've sweat dropped (like the irony?) and I dropped my head, letting a bit of my real self through without realizing it. Atem chuckled as Ryou sighed, probably thankful that it was just the fact that I had no idea where I was, I glared at Atem. "You find this funny?"

"Well, actually, yes. Duke told us you grew up on these streets, I thought you knew every inch of Domino City. Maybe we overestimated you." He shrugged, his eyes giving off a playful look. _I hate this guy._ I closed my eyes so I wouldn't risk punching the smug look off his face, and breathed.

"Could you just tell me which way is North and I can go from there?" I asked Ryou, the more compliant twin out of the four of them, he smiled and nodded,

"Of course, it would be... that direction!" After a moments hesitation to think about where North would be, Ryou smiled triumphantly and pointed in a certain direction, giving me my course.

"Gentlemen. We have our heading." (A little bit of Jack Sparrow in there for you.) I grinned wickedly, "I really hope you guys can keep up," _and I really hope my body has recovered enough to run the long distance._ Just as I was about to try and take off, a hand grabbed my own, the warmth unfamiliar and yet calming at the same time. Nonetheless, I nearly jumped out of my skin. I held a hand to my heart, nearly having a heart attack for the first time in what seemed like ages, and looked grudgingly at the person who had grabbed a hold of my hand. Atem Moto stood there, half smug and half embarrassed, holding my hand and Ryou followed his lead after realizing why,

"If you take off, we won't exactly be able to catch up, we heard how fast you can move. It's really your idea in the first place on where to go because I said I'd heal you where you are most comfortable." Ryou explained, making me start to detest how I can't hate the guy. I nodded, keeping my mouth shut and my emotions buried, I began to head in the direction Ryou had pointed out earlier. Atem seemed to agree with Ryou but said nothing.

"It'll take us a while to get there on foot since it's about five miles from the Kaiba Mansion, and now we're South of the Kaiba Mansion." I explained, pushing my musty black hair out of my eyes, I couldn't believe I was taking these strangers to my home. But they'd help me more than anyone actually had ever. I owed them my life, I don't plan to make a habit out of this.

"We can run, our legs aren't broken-"

"But mine are sore as hell from running the four miles from Kaiba Mansion to get to that house and I passed out sometime after that. I may be a fast healer, but I can't heal that fast." Atem's purple eyes looked down at me and I rolled my eyes, "honestly, you guys worry too much. Don't you guys ever just leave things the way they are?" I asked a little irritated that he cared so much, _what's this guys deal?_

**Atem's** **POV**

"Honestly, you guys worry too much. Don't you guys ever just leave things the way they are?" Zaara seemed irritated as she turned away and picked up her pace North. Something is bugging her, but she doesn't seem the type to share. Ryou and I exchanged worried glances as we followed after her, she eventually picked up into a run and we had to sprint in order to keep up. _She's fast._

"After about two more blocks, we're going to need to go left four blocks. That'll lead us into town." Ryou stated, giving Zaara the information she needed to navigate through this area.

"Got it. Thanks, Ryou." Her voice was that of Seto Kaiba's, without emotion. _What has this girl been through?_ She took a sharp left and I nearly tripped over myself to take the turn, Ryou on the other hand wasn't as lucky as he stumbled into me and we both went down in a heap of limbs.

"Ryou..." I sighed, feeling my arm twitch. I heard a hushed giggle and looked up as much as I could to see a serious Zaara over us,

"Come on you two, quit fooling around. We don't have-" Zaara grunted, grasping her shoulder firmly, "We don't have all day, let's go." She grit her teeth as she helped untangle us and then put her pain into her energy to run. I sighed, realizing what would happen if she kept going,

"If she keeps pushing herself like this, she's going to pass out from the pain again." Ryou stated, knowing Zaara couldn't hear us since we were trailing a ways behind her, she would look back to check if we were still in sight then continue running again.

"I know. One of us has to carry her." We looked at each other grimly, "Question is, which one of us wants to chance a broken nose?" I sighed, figuring it would be me since Ryou wasn't all that strong to begin with, I wiped the sweat from my brow. It's a hot day and I'm glad I only have my black pants and shoes on with my blue tanktop, I had left my jacket at home last night since we were in such a rush to get over to Ryou's place. I lifted my eyes up, coming out of my thoughts and watched Zaara zip around and I got a flash of the same girl but with longer hair and giggling. This Zaara was younger and more playful,

"Ah.." I gripped my head, _these visions are coming more and more... but what do they mean?_ Ryou stopped running, partly because he couldn't keep up anymore and partly because he was concerned about me. Zaara ran back and she seemed like she was glowing, she must be happy to be running around even though she has us trailing her.

"Are you okay?" Her icy blue eyes met mine, inches away from my face, I jolted back up to a standing position, nearly falling over in the process. Zaara blinked a few times before a slight giggle escaped her lips. _Wait... Did she just giggle? At me?_I gave her a confused look before she grabbed Ryou's hand and picked him up onto her back, Ryou turned red.

"What are you-?"

"I have kids waiting at home for me, remember? I can't waste anymore time that I already have, it's already noon. My kids are probably worried sick, and I can't imagine what Sakura is going to do to me once I come home, especially with you two. Well she might forgive me once she sees you, Atem." I looked at her to see what she could possibly mean, it's not like I'm famous. She had turned her head away from mine, my skull pain now subsided as I nodded at her.

"Lead the way, since we're in town it should be easier to navigate, right?" I asked, stepping up next to her. She looked exhausted, and now she was carrying Ryou and about to run another three miles. "I can carry him, Zaara." Her eyes snapped to mine,

"I think that's the first time you've said my name." She turned red and looked away, it was the first time I used her name.

"I guess it is. I can carry Ryou, Zaara, I've got more energy and strength." She seemed to jolt and glared at me,

"Are you calling me weak?" Her voice was full of venom, as if her strength was a touchy subject, I put my hands up in a defensive maneuver. Her icy blue eyes looked like the icicles that would be created on a house after a nice rain and the temperature drop. I shuddered under her gaze and moved mine away from hers.

"I wasn't, I'm saying you've used up enough energy as it is. Let me carry- Zaara!" She had taken off in the middle of my offer and I had to run as fast as I've ever run to keep up with her, pushing my limits. _If this keeps up, she won't be the one to pass out, I will._ She darted down alley ways as Ryou kept asking her to slow down for me, surprisingly she listened. I guess she can't hate Ryou for some reason.

"We're here." She stated after about two hours of running and some walking, we stood in an alley way that was a dead end. "Kami, Zane, Sami, I'm back." She called out, and suddenly a hidden door opened and we dropped down into darkness. A steady hand grabbed mine once we fell and lead me in the darkness until another door was opened, then blinding light came through as I was tugged through.

"Mommy!" Three small voices screamed, and I saw three little children running towards Zaara, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Ryou and I.

"Mommy? Who are these people?" A small silver haired girl asked, holding a teddy bear with one hand and hiding behind a slightly bigger boy with green eyes and brown hair. He's got Joey's protective eyes and Tristan's build, at such a young age. There was another girl with long blond hair and silver eyes, that's eerie. Zaara sat Ryou down on a couch that laid in a certain area of the big room we were in,

"Are we... Underground?" I asked, following Zaara out of habit now. She nodded and laid Ryou down holding his head as he panted,

"I'm sorry, Ryou, I shouldn't have pushed you so hard. Zane, sweety, go get Mommy the ice pack, please." The kid with green eyes, Zane, nodded and ran to the kitchen area as the smaller of the two hid behind the blond now. "Kami, it's okay, these are friends." As soon as those words were out of her mouth, my legs were hugged by the two small girls,

"Are you Mommy's boyfriend?" I saw Zaara jump and turn slightly red, so I wasn't the only one red, she just laughed.

"No, Sami, Mommy doesn't have a boyfriend, remember?" The silver haired one, now Sami, looked up at me with big blue eyes and I could feel myself sweatdrop under her gaze. "This is Atem, and the one that's on the couch here is Ryou. The one with the bear is Sami, the blond one with a slight attitude is Kami, and the little boy coming over here now with the ice pack is my Zane." Zaara smiled lovingly at the three of them as they returned the favor, I've never seen her smile like that. Even though I've known her for a day it's seemed like longer. I stared at Zaara, watching her laughing with her kids and taking care of Ryou like she did it every day and Ryou smiled at her and she laughed at some of the faces he would make when she was tending his wounds. Although it's only been a mere day since I've met her, I could tell that she put people through a mental test before she trusted them, she's almost exactly like Kaiba. But Kaiba doesn't really accept help from anyone, she seems like a softer version of Kaiba.

"Thank you, Zane." She smiled, rubbing the boys head as he blushed lightly, smiling at her.

"Zaara!" A shrill voice split through the calm and fun atmosphere, Zaara straightened, dropping the ice pack on Ryou's forehead and he winced. Zaara didn't even notice as she turned around with a terrified expression. "Zaara where have you been!?" A girl with long green hair in a braid came barreling in and tackled Zaara to the ground, pinning her.

"S-s-sakura!" Zaara stuttered, looking up at the red eyed girl. "I was on my way back when I got caught and-" she was silenced with a punch in the face,

"Do you know how worried we were?!" The woman yelled, punching Zaara repeatedly in the face, _she's like a mother I wouldn't want to get angry..._ Ryou and I sweatdropped as Zaara just took the beatings. Zaara eventually disappeared from Sakura's grasp and kicked her in the head, sending her flying as she flew into a hallway.

"Apparently so worried you had to beat me once I got here." Zaara walked to the kitchen and grabbed some water as black spots began to cross my vision, I felt light headed and sat on the ground. More like plopped instead of sat. "Here." She held the glass up to my lips and smiled softly, my face began to warm up as I drank greedily. Almost ten miles without water or breaks, unheard of unless you trained. Once I had drank all of the water I felt waterlogged and laid back on the cool ground, panting. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was.

"Here, Ryou, drink slowly." She held the glass to his lips as well and he also began to blush at the show of kindness. He drank half a glass and then she pulled the glass away, "Now you just need to relax for a while, okay? Let me feed the kids and grab you two something small to snack on before dinner. Zane, I need you to periodically give these two some water, don't let them down the whole glass, understand?" The small boy nodded and got a few more glasses of water and sat down in between Ryou and I with them. He also turned the fan on and covered the lower half of Ryou and I with a blanket.

"Kami, go get Sami ready for dinner, give her a bath and check on Sakura, I put more into that kick than I meant to." The middle child nodded and Sami resisted,

"Mommy, you just got back. Are you going to go out again?" Zaara just smiled lovingly at her adopted daughter and kissed her forehead,

"I'll be gone quite a while starting after these guys are back home. You'll have to stay with Sakura and Jules for a while." Sami and Kami nodded and ran off to bathe one another in the tub while I just closed my eyes and rested.

**Zaara's POV **

I went into the kitchen to start cooking dinner for all of us, wincing everytime I used my left arm. _I can't heal myself because I used all of my energy on Marik last night... Ah! _I doubled over,

"It... It must be broken..." I whispered, gripping my arm as a loud thunk could be heard from my fall. I laid there for a moment, listening, as I closed my eyes I could still see everything as if my eyes were open. Only, everything was in negative, I could hear Ryou's slow, deep, breathing, he must've fallen asleep after I treated him. Atem had laid back on the floor and closed his own eyes, he was half asleep and wasn't aware of his surroundings or else he would've heard me fall. I took a deep breath, releasing a shaky one, then stood. Stirring the noodles in the pot, I turned on the heat for the sauce,

"The noodles are almost ready..." I mumbled, mixing in some veggies in the sauce for the kids, I also started up the oven for garlic bread. Ryou seemed to hear as he sat straight up on the couch, his soft brown eyes flying open,

"Food?" He asked, getting up out of the couch, his white hair sticking out in wayward directions, "Oh, do you need help?" I laughed,

"Do you always worry about others before yourself? You're still healing from that run. You're muscles must be screaming at you right now, Ryou." He just shook his head,

"I feel fine. Besides I haven't healed your arm yet. I can't believe you haven't complained about it yet."

"Mommy, there's something wrong with your arm?" My kids had come back from washing up and Sakura was standing in the front of the long hallway that lead to our rooms. I knelt down to look my children in the eyes,

"Mommy is okay. I just got a small boo boo, I'll be okay after Mr. Ryou here looks at it, so no need to worry, okay?" I asked, giving them my soft smile that showed them I loved them, it's a smile I only give at home. So it was no surprise that both boys looked shocked at seeing me smile like that. I took Sami into my arms, resisting the pain that shot up my body, and opened a cabinet,

"Are you going to help Mommy set the table?" I asked, the kids immediately started grabbing plates and silverware to begin setting the table. Sami grabbed the glasses from the cabinet I opened, they were slightly cracked from overuse, but they wouldn't break unless someone dropped them. Sami sat them down on the counter and dashed over to the fridge, grabbing a milk carton, and filling up the glasses as she hummed doing her job. I smiled at all of them, Zane, Sami, and Kami, they're the children I raised and I couldn't imagine life without them. Unfortunately, I had to leave them for a while, I had to sneak on that ship that takes the duelists to Duelist Kingdom. Atem had been sitting and watching for a while, _creepy._ I could feel his eyes on me as I walked about the kitchen setting the food on the table and taking the bread out of the oven,

"Food's ready." I watched as everyone sat in their seats and Atem and Ryou sat in theirs, I sat in between the two boys and we ate.

**Some time later~ **

"Here, I'll help clean up, Zaara." Atem stated, staying back to help me as Ryou and Sakura went to play with the kids. I nodded and smiled as he helped me clear off the table and put the dishes in the sink,

"I guess you guys can go home, it's not like I'm holding you hostage." I stated, wiping a dish in my hands with a sponge in the sink. Atem's purple eyes looked at me, stunned for a moment, then he chuckled?

"We are helping you because we want to, not because we pity you." His eyes looked straight into mine and I could feel a slight blush skim across my face, I looked away, the dishes seemed to become very interesting. I began to play with my fingers while doing the dishes, fidgeting for the first time in a long time. _I need them to leave so I can get ready for tomorrow. _I dried my hands and dashed over to Ryou,

"Come on." I grabbed his arm and dragged him to my room, he turned bright red on the way, "You have to fix my arm don't you?" I sighed, rolling my eyes as Atem and Ryou sighed in unison, grateful for the reasoning. I dragged him in and closed the door behind him,

"Zaara, what ever is the matter?" Ryou asked, his voice and look of concern making me realize how much I trusted him just after a day of knowing him.

"What's with you people?! Why can't you just leave people alone?" I asked, feeling my breaking point coming closer as my eyes threatened to shed tears. _No! I haven't cried since the Kaiba brothers left the orphanage. I haven't cried in ten years, why should I now? _I sat down on the bed, bringing my hands to my eyes, covering my face. I felt a soft hand touch my own and slowly peel my hands away from my face,

"Because, we can tell when people need others in their lives. Even if they don't know it yet. We like to help others, and so far, we like helping you." He gave a soft genuine smile that told me that he already considered me a good friend and that's when I broke, crying and bawling. Ryou held me, bringing me into his chest as he rubbed my back. "Can I fix your shoulder now?" He asked softly, he wanted my permission because I needed to remove my shirt to do so. I nodded, shaking,

"After..." I managed to get out without stuttering, he nodded, understanding that I needed time to cry. I clutched his shirt, curling into him and crying my heart out. After a while of this, I could tell it had gotten quiet outside my door, my children were probably concerned because I was crying. Sakura and Atem were probably wanting to kill the source of my pain, I chuckled as I sat back up, wiping my face and sniffling.

"Thanks, Ryou." My voice was cracking from the emotion flowing through me and Ryou smiled, hugging me once again, but gently as is his nature. I pulled back after the hug and laughed,

"What?" He questioned, blinking as he looked at me, confused. I pointed at his shirt, his shirt had tear stains all through it and I stood up.

"Here, I'll give you a shirt." I told him, walking to my closet and taking out a shirt I had bought and I saw his face, "Don't worry, I bought this with my own money." I smiled a smile I hadn't in a long time. It was a trusting and happy smile. I'd never tell my kids this, but I've been broken for a long time. I hadn't let Sakura in and I barely let my kids in, there was a certain side I showed them, and it was the motherly side of me. I never really got a chance to be me anymore and Ryou was letting me do that. So were the others. I sighed as I gave him the shirt and turned around,

"Thank you. I guess I'll..."

"I can wash it later, just keep the shirt," I replied, turning back around, "Um... How should I..?" I started turning a shade of red and he did the same, he shook his head and looked up at me with a stern look.

"I'll turn around and you can put on a shirt that will give me access to the wounded area and I can fix it." He turned as I looked down at myself, all I had to do was take off my jacket because I was still wearing that halved t-shirt from yesterday. It had some blood on it but other than that I did okay with not staining my shirt and jacket. Taking off my jacket, my heart raced, I was uncomfortable and it was obvious. After the jacket came off I reached onto my bad shoulder and pulled the sleeve all the way off, scars and scratches showing from my halved t-shirt and revealed shoulder. Some of the cuts from yesterday reopened,

"Uh, Ryou.. Some of the wounds from yesterday reopened just now..." He seemed to jump and whip around,

"What? Oh dear." He dashed over and sat me on the bed and looked at the wounds that reopened, he opened his little case that he brought with him and began to cleanse all the wounds. I flinched lightly and he chuckled at me, "It's alright, even my brother and Marik flinch when they get their wounds tended to." I smiled at him, I seemed to be smiling more now, and it came easier than it did before, I enjoyed it. He carefully felt around my arms and legs and my back to make sure that there weren't any other wounds, I closed my eyes as his fingers danced lightly over my body. I shuddered lightly and opened my eyes to see gauze wrap in his hands,

"I'm going to start wrapping the deeper cuts so they'll seal properly without leaving a scar. Then I'll have to focus all of my energy on healing your shoulder." I nodded as he did so. In a few minutes he was done and he put a hand on the top of my shoulder then one on my shoulder blade, the pain was excruciating but it slowly started to subside as a warmth creeped from his hands into my body and I could feel the bone mending itself and strengthening. I sighed and began to relax more in his hands than I would've twenty four hours ago.

"Thank you, Ryou. You and Atem should get home now." I opened my eyes to see his brown eyes in front of mine, I jumped and our foreheads smashed together, "Ow~, Ryou, the hell?"

"Sorry, I wanted to see if you were still okay... I can usually tell with your eyes." He explained, rubbing his forehead and we looked at each other and started laughing.

"Thanks, Ryou. Let me take you two home... and if it isn't too much trouble, can I go to duelist kingdom with you guys?" I asked, giving him my puppy dog eyes that I haven't used in ten years. Ryou looked at me as if it wasn't his decision then sighed,

"Let me talk to Bakura then he'll probably take you with him." He hung his head as I hug tackled him, my arm completely forgotten.

_I'm going to Duelist Kingdom!_

**A/N: You would not believe how hard this chapter was XD It took me DAYS, DAYS PEOPLE! I've been working on it for quite some time, probably a few weeks at most. Hope you got to learn more about Zaara!**

**Review and tell me which character you would like to see Zaara have little moments with :3**

**Later!**

**-Zaara**


	9. Journey To Duelist Kingdom

**A/N: Well here we go :) I'm going to start following the episodes now TT_TT although I'd rather update my Naruto one, I'm updating for those of you who do read and review. Oh and yes there will be a lot of changes in how the episodes go since Atem and Bakura(the evil one) aren't actual characters themselves with their own bodies so there will be gaps where in the shows they have the story line with the main characters and I have spots with mine.  
**

**Shoutout to Tora-chan! She keeps telling me to get back to work instead of watching anime XD**

Zaara's POV 

I looked up at the big boat, for the past two days (day one being the day I met Bakura and Marik at the Kaiba Mansion) I've been living with the white haired twins. They told me they had plenty of room since their parents were always gone, and that I was more than welcomed to have the kids live with them. Ryou was especially excited about having the kids while I was gone. I looked over at the more fun white haired twin and smiled,

"So, we're all sneaking on, huh?" I asked as I saw Triston, Tea sneaking onto the boat in the cargo hold. Joey tried to just walk on, but he got stopped, luckily enough for him Atem and Yugi both offered to give him star chips. Bakura just chuckled,

"Please, just watch this." He walked over to two duelists and swiftly stole their boarding passes, their starchips, and anything else that was needed. I wrinkled my nose at the deed but shrugged,

"I hate to do that to them, but we need on." I stated, taking my share, "Wait, doesn't this mean we'll be sharing the room we're given?" My eye twitched as I looked up at a smirking Bakura. I kicked him in the shin.

"Wench! What was that for?!" He questioned, I just started laughing as we made our way to the line and onto the ship.

"I think they'll be surprised to see us on board, don't you think?" Ignoring his remark as he caught up to me, limping slightly. He glared down at me and then slid the star chips I needed in order to get onto the boat into my hand then disappeared.

"I'll find you later." He whispered in my ear, but it was just his voice, a shiver went down my entire being. _Where did he...? Da faq?! _My eyes darted around the crowd, trying to relocate my white haired thief. _Wait... Why did I just call him **my **white haired thief? I must be going insane. _I shook my head as I made it to the front and flashed my star chips. I wasn't getting on this boat- yacht- for me, I was here to help my friends. It's crazy but I feel like we've all already made a tight bond of friendship, plus I just can't help but causing mischief.

"Zaara?" A young voice called out as I made it onto the deck, I whirled around to see Joey hug me tightly.

"There she is! The girl that puts Kaiba into place!" The blond celebrated at my appearance and took the breath out of my lungs by squishing my ribcage,

"Uh, Joey? I think she can't breath..." Yugi pointed out with a sweatdrop as my face began to turn different colors. Joey gasped and let me go, Atem was smart enough to catch me as I nearly tumbled to the ground. He had his arm around my waist, holding me up as I caught my breath, his vibrant eyes looking at me.

"What are you doing here? Last I checked you were a thief with kids, not a duelist." I sighed,

"Busted." The others looked at me as I moved out of the elder Atem's arm, "Well, you see..." I was about to confess when someone else pulled me into them, him apparently, I was squished against a chest. Comfortably, but I would never admit this to anyone, as a voice gave me an excuse,

"She's here with me. I snuck her on board." Bakura's raspy voice explained, gripping me to him, I could see something flare in Atem's eyes. I turned a shade of red as my voice grew dead and grave,

"Release me." I ordered, Bakura froze and the others gave a look of surprise to hear my voice take on the tone of Seto Kaiba's, but deadlier. I decked Bakura in the face and he fell backwards as Joey started laughing,

"Got what he deserved!"

"You want some, block head?" I whipped around and glared at him, he hid behind his limbs in a sort of karate way and I started giggling, which gave the others a chance to realize I was joking and laughed at Joey's reaction.

"Hey~! That's not funny, guys!" Joey complained, hanging his head, "How am I supposed to know when she's joking?"

"Yes, she is a good actress, isn't she?" Atem mumbled, making my eyes snap to him, _does he know something?_ I shook the thought off, it was impossible. I shuddered at the cold night and took my knapsack off my shoulder, a big yawn on my lips. I wrinkled my nose after yawning and heard a slight chuckle, "here."

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to see Atem holding out his long sleeved blue trench coat to me, I shook my head, "Oh, no I couldn't possibly..." He laughed again as the other guys had wandered off to watch the Yacht set sail, he walked behind me and took my bag. He held up the jacket so I could slide my arms into it. I turned a new shade of red as he did so and I clutched my arms around me, feeling the warmth that was Atem's. I shook my head, _Woah girl, no! You can't fall for Atem! What is WRONG with you!? _Apparently I was having a spaz attack because Atem was in my face,

"Are you alright?" I squeaked and jumped at the same time, falling backwards slightly, and into someone else.

"Hey, watch where you're goi- why hello," a raspy, kid's voice had started out angry then became appreciative. I turned swiftly around and glared down at the little boy with the blue bowl hairdo. He eyed me like I was some kind of new card that he wanted,

"Hey, little fellah, my eyes are up here." I stated in my get-the-clue-voice, Atem knew what was going on and coughed, taking my hand and twirling me into his chest. I blushed as I flew into his arms and against his chest,

"Weevil Underwood, what an honor to meet the regional champion of the most recent duelist championship." Atem gave his fake amazed voice and grinned viciously, an expression that oddly looked becoming of him. I shuddered and he held me tighter, assuming that I was still cold.

"Yes, I was the Regional Champion, thank you for noticing." He grinned, not catching the sarcasm on the "honor" part of the sentence. "Is that your sister?" He questioned, moving closer, thankfully Atem took a step back with me in his arms still. I was still turning red, _why am I always playing the helpless damsel when these guys are around?! _I berated myself for being weak around these guys just because they were sweet or fun to be with. Weevil got the picture that Atem was giving him and growled,

"Fine. But know that I met your double. I tossed his precious Exodia cards over the boat!" He cackled, holding his belly as he laughed. Atem whispered in my ear then,

"Can you step aside for a minute?" By the deadly tone of his voice, I knew he was about to beat the living crap outta this bug, so I grinned devilishly. Which he returned as I stepped aside, him cracking his knuckles, me giggling evily. Weevil looked at us confused for a second before Atem stepped forward, "You did what to my brother?" _Crackle, crack!_ His knuckles popped as he got closer and closer to Weevil Underwood,

"I-I uh, nothing!" He stammered, purely terrified of the elder Muto as he took a few steps back. He hit the railing and looked at us, frightened. Atem stepped forward again and grabbed Weevil by the front of his shirt,

"Well, bug boy, I hope your exoskeleton heals quicker than your mouth can spout lies." His eyes were dark and fired up, _wow... this is knew... Who knew Atem had a dark side? _I felt myself blushing and put a hand on his shoulder,

"Atem, fighting might get you kicked off the ship." I whispered in his ear, a swift punch to Weevil's face, a nose bleed and a scream, then it was over. We laughed as we watched Weevil scurry away like the bugs he has in his deck and I looked at Atem again. "Since when do you condone violence?"

"Since my little brother isn't around to stop me from beating his bullies. Apparently you're a second Yugi since you stopped me just now." His violet eyes glimmered in the moonlight and I found myself locked on them. I blushed and turned away in time to see Bakura come onto the deck,

"Hey, Bakura!" I called, my irritation at his disappearing from earlier returning. He saw me and gave me an apologetic smile, "Damn right you better be sorry!" His eyes seemed to bug out of his head as he turned to try and run from me, try being the key word here. I grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back, "You loser! You are so lucky the others found me!" I yelled at him, he sat up and chuckled.

"I see you've already got comfy with the Pharaoh. Why don't you spend the rest of the night in the luxury suite I got us?" Bakura accused then offered, his brown eyes inviting and soft for once instead of guarded and hard. Apparently Atem didn't agree with this arrangement,

"You're so kind, Bakura. I'd love to sleep in that suite of yours as well. I'm sure Tea and Tristan would love it as well instead of freezing out here." He stated, folding his arms and not even turning his head as Tea and Tristan appeared out of what seemed like nowhere and came around that corner chuckling. Tea hugged Atem and I felt a surge of jealousy, which I quickly let go of as Tristan thanked him.

"Come on, Bakura." I gave him my best puppy dog eyes with my baby blues and he blushed, putting a hand behind his head as he sighed. He was defeated and he knew it, he nodded and grabbed my hand as we headed to the suite. I gave the other three a wink as they followed and a slight giggle escaped my lips as Atem wouldn't be beat and grabbed my other hand. Bakura sighed at this and continued up into the higher parts of the deck and opened a big door with intricate designs on it. The interior of the room was amazing, mahogany wood was stripped across the floor in floor boards and the walls were thick with beautiful Duel Monsters paintings done by Pegasus himself. There were three long couches that had multiple blankets on them and two King sized beds with feather stuffed comforters on them along with four pillows. Tristan and Tea automatically frolicked about the room, amazed at the luxury of it, Atem glared at Bakura,

"And how did you acquire this room, Bakura?" Bakura just replied with a grin,

"What does it matter, Pharaoh? We have the room. Enjoy it." Atem seemed to brood over his words as he folded his arms and headed for a couch, I headed for the first bed and saw Bakura lying on it.

"Oh, no," I gave him a glare, "Couch." I pointed to one of the open couches and looked at him, he looked up at me for a moment then shook his head no.

"I got us this room, I'm getting a bed." He countered, I looked over and saw Tea climbing into one bed, already changed, Tristan had already claimed a bed as well and I sighed.

"Scoot over, damn it." I growled, plopping down my bag next to the bed and he smirked, scooting over as he removed his shoes and shirt. I didn't dare look, fearing that I'd turn red at the sight as the bed suddenly shook and Bakura was tossed to the other side of the room. Chewing on my lip to keep from laughing, I looked up and saw Atem, his eyes full of rage at the action Bakura had taken and then he looks down at me.

"I know you can make him move, which makes me question a few things about you." He said, just loud enough for only me to hear, I looked down, ashamed that I had given up too early. I grabbed his hand before Atem moved away and kept my head down as I said the next few words,

"Would you like to know more about me, then?" He seemed surprised that I was offering information about myself, and I was fearful for a second that he was going to outright deny anything he'd ever done for me so far. Then he smiled, his eyes softening and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. My heart fluttered as he sat on the bed, cross legged in front of me and I gave him a smile as well. One that usually only Ryou would see, but I had a feeling we'd be spending a lot of time together, this group and I.

"So I started out at an orphanage in Tokyo..." I began, unknowingly I had the attention of everyone else in the room.

* * *

**A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I do apologize if anyone got angry at me for changing the episode up a little, but Tristan and Tea do not come out of their hiding place until the boat reaches the Island, and I'm going to assume it takes a few days to get there by boat. So Zaara gets to spend a few days with the gang and get to know them. I'm sure everyone realizes how quickly the gang makes friends, right? XD  
**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**

**-Zaara**


	10. Duelist Island

**A/N: Well summer's been a blast, as I'm sure it has been for most of you, I hope you are all having a great summer and a safe one! I'm almost up to walking speed again so I'm excited to start working, I've been wanting to for a while. Just have to get back to walking on my own two feet then I can get my license and get to work!**

**Onto the story! **

* * *

SLAM!

"Eep!" I squealed, surging up in the bed I was in. I looked at the door to glare at whomever had dared to wake me and saw Bakura, "Why am I not surprised?" I muttered, putting a hand over my heart and the other on my face. I sighed, trying to control my breathing as he sauntered over and sat on the corner of the bed.

"You know, everyone's already up and about, maybe you should get dressed and find the others." Bakura offered some advice, I nodded and looked up at him, _why is he such a jerk to everyone else but me? _I shook it off, he's nice to Marik and Ryou, so it's probably because I'm like him in a few ways. A thief for one.

"Thanks, Bakura." I gave him a smile that seemed to be coming easier and easier to give, one that started to come when I first met these guys. "Remind me, why did Marik have to stay home?" I questioned, confused at why our blond Egyptian friend would stay home and miss this opportunity. Bakura chuckled,

"It's mainly because Ishizu would have his head if he was gone for more than a few days at a time. She keeps her brothers close." He explained in a malevolent tone. I rolled my eyes and waved my hands at him,

"Shoo. I have to change." He sighed, rolling his eyes in return as he waited just outside the door. The horn sounded from the boat, making the entire thing vibrate as I pulled on some normal clothes, ones that didn't have blood on them from just a few nights ago. _It's been nearly a week since I've met all of them... Although Joey and Yugi I barely know, along with Tristan and Tea. Maybe I'll get to know them better._ I pulled on a pair of jeans with a tank top and my army jacket that I refused to go anywhere without. I slipped my Millennium Bracelet on and sighed at the cool metal touching my warm skin, the contact felt ever relaxing and familiar. Come to think of it, I never told Atem where I got it. Oh well.

"Alright, King of Thieves, I'm done." I called out, watching the door fall open and Bakura falling with it, Joey and Yugi were there,

"Hey, Zar, come on! We've almost reached the island!" Joey called, giving me a nickname off the bat. I shook my head and stuffed everything in my bag and ran to catch up with them.

"Coming, Bakura?" I asked as I walked around him, his eyes seemed to have swirls in them as I laughed and he growled, chasing after me to catch me. I ran outside onto the deck, chasing after Yugi and Joey to the front of the boat. The sea water splashed against the giant boat and I loved the smell of the salt on the wind as it blew through the deck, keeping it cool on the warm sunny day. I ran a hand through my short black hair and put the other on the railing, Tea and Yugi were standing next to each other and Tristan was nervously looking around. Joey was grinning like an idiot,

"Alright! I can't wait to get started!" He announced, making all the other duelists around us look at him like easy prey. Some of us sighed at him but I just shook my head, I've only known these guys for nearly a week but even I know that Joey's always like this. Talk and act now, think later. It's a constant problem. Someone wrapped their arms around my waist and picked me up, I bit my lip to keep from squealing like a girl, it's unusual for me to be so relaxed but it's nice. I turned to see Bakura behind me, _guess he caught up._ He turned me back around so I was facing towards the island once again and put his chin in the crook of my neck,

"Like the view?" He asked, looking at the island with dull eyes, he was thinking about something, about what I couldn't guess. I looked at his eyes then in the ocean, out to the island we were about to dock in.

"It's a beautiful island, and the stone castle is amazing." I breathed, I had never left Japan before, and seeing stuff like this was rare considering I lived underground most of the time. I didn't go on vacations, and if I did, it was in the city so I could get some more cash hustling people. I sighed, looking down and Bakura gave me a questioning look,

"It's silly, but I'm missing my kids right now. I hope your brother can handle them. They tend to test the limits of someone they don't know." I explained and smiled sheepishly, Bakura just laughed and shook his head,

"You'd be surprised at how well Ryou can handle children. They flock to him, it's like he's never really grown out of that stage. He's pure adult sometimes when I'm being my troublesome self. But-"

"You two take turns taking care of each other. I get it. Sometimes even my kids surprise me and teach me something new." I covered my mouth as a cough came out and I shook my head with surprise. Bakura spurted out with laughter,

"That... was adorable." He made a face, mimicking me and continued laughing. I folded my arms and walked away from him since he had let me go to laugh, I walked over to Tea and Tristan,

"You know, Tristan, you should really act normal. People will get suspicious if you keep looking around like that." I muttered to him, leaning back against the railing and closing my eyes with a sigh. He jumped, apparently I seemed to appear out of nowhere to him,

"Wait, how did you get on the ship?" Tristan asked, my eyes opened slightly at him, the others were also curious and Bakura seemed to try and slip away so he couldn't get yelled at anymore.

"Oh, no you don't. The king of thieves over there took someone else's passes to get onto the boat and island." I pointed at him and Yugi seemed to sweatdrop and facepalm at the same time,

"Bakura~," Yugi sighed, Bakura just folded his arms as Atem looked at me surprised,

"And you just let him do this?"

"Well, how else was I supposed to get on this ship? Be a stowaway like these two and be afraid every second of getting caught? No thanks." I barked back, I didn't like being accused of letting a bad dead happen, mainly since I stole things for a living. Giving is what I usually do, I talk to the store owner and see what's overstocked in the stores so I can 'steal' them and I don't get sued or looked for by the cops. Even the gramps Muto at the Kame Game Shop gave me a few things that weren't selling. Atem seemed annoyed at me attacking his friends,

"You could've asked, like Joey did." He surprised me by reacting with a soft voice, not reprimanding me on my actions. I was taken back by his kindness and looked away,

"I'm not used to charity. I'm used to fighting for what I want, tooth and nail." I replied, hiding my eyes under my hair, Joey grabbed my chin and made me look up at him,

"Well, this isn't charity, capiche? We're your friends now, weather you like it or not. We help each other when needed, it's not charity if it's coming from friends." He explained, and for some reason I started getting teary eyed. _I will not cry... I will... not... cry!_ I started coughing again, I held a hand to my throat as the coughing became slightly more violent than the last. _Not now... I can't have this now! I forgot to pack my medicine..._ The others stepped away from me, giving me room to breath as Bakura stepped forward and forced me to stand straight so I could breath better. Tears fell down my cheeks as I had my eyes closed so I could focus on my breathing, Bakura steadied me with a hand on my lower back and Tea stepped forward this time.

"Are you okay? You started having a coughing fit last night too while everyone was asleep." Tea's voice was full of concern and it made me feel like I had another sister, I nodded once I caught my breath again.

"I'm fine, it's just allergies." I gave them a smile that told them not to worry, "Look! We're going to dock soon!" I pointed at the island as it was getting ever more closer to us, it had gotten very close while we were all talking and I had to get them distracted. Atem and Bakura weren't fooled though, Joey was still looking at me and I blinked,

"Wha-"

"Tell me if you're not okay, alright?" Joey stated, his voice very serious and his golden brown eyes boring into mine. I looked away and nodded,

"Alright, Joey." I whispered, and it seemed to be enough for Joey because he wrapped an arm around my shoulders in a brotherly way and cheered for finally reaching the island. I smiled, having friends could be troublesome, but it felt nice to have someone worry and be there for you.

"Man, this Duelist Kingdom looks like a pretty big place, Yugi." Joey commented, dragging me over to the others once more. He didn't want me to seclude myself and I was strangely getting used to the idea of not being alone. "Finding yer grandpa's not gonna be easy." Joey reminded all of us of why we were here, I'm starting not to care about the reward money and more about Yugi's grandfather. From what I've heard, a lot has happened to the nice old man and that doesn't play well in my book.

"Well, we gatta start somewhere." Said the smaller Muto, the optimism was always welcoming, so far. I nodded in agreement and smiled at Joey and Yugi, the anchor was set a few moments afterwards and we made our way to the boarding plank that let us off the boat. When we all got off the boat, we were greeted with a bunch of KaibaCorp looking flunkies in suites that stood just outside the boarding dock.

"Woah, check out the suites..." Joey commented, making me laugh under my breath, shaking my head.

"If this is being held by Maximilian Pegasus, then don't you think he'd have security?" I asked, looking up at Joey, who hadn't let me go yet. Apparently he was afraid I'd run off on my own. Which was the plan for as soon as I had gotten on the island. He's smarter than he looks. Acts. Thinks. Yeah...

"Attention all duelists!" Came a voice from the intercom, "Please disembark in an orderly fashion." Tristan suddenly got into Tea's face,

"Hey, Tea, what if one of those security guys finds out we're both stowaways? We oughta play it safe and just swim back." He stated, his eyes shifting from side to side in a creepy manner. I rolled my eyes,

"Yeah, and what if they realize that Bakura and I weren't actually invited. It's not like they have a big list that they check off. That'd take too long."

"Besides, Tristan, we're in the middle of nowhere, lame brain. If you can just try and act normal, we'll be okay." I laughed at Tristan's expression, he seemed to not like Tea yelling at him and shoving reality in his face. I caught up to Yugi, Atem, and Joey,

"Hey, guys?" I called, catching up,

"What is it, Zar?" Joey asked, stopping to look at me,

"What happened to Bakura?" I skimmed over the heads of the crowd that had already formed for my white haired friend and saw him nowhere.

"That's a good question." Yugi stated, noticing Bakura's absence as well,

"But we don't have time to look for him." Atem told us as we continued down the plank,

"Act cool, just act cool, cool as a cucumber." Tristan chanted under his breath, walking like a wooden toy soldier. I rolled my eyes when suddenly-

"Hey you!" Tristan had a freak attack as we all turned around to see who the suite meant. "Don't look so nervous, you guys are our guests here!" He welcomed us, trying to calm Tristan's nerves. I laughed as I turned back around to continue walking, Tristan was making faces and I didn't want to give anything away.

"T-thaat's right! I'm your guest!" Tristan exclaimed, bowing then turning and marching away form the guy towards us once more. We regrouped around some boxes of cargo and Tristan put his hands on his knees breathing deeply,

"Do you need an inhaler or something, Tristan?" I asked, and he glared up at me,

"It's not funny, you guys, I think I just had a heart attack." Tea turned her head to the side with an expression that said he was an idiot,

"Way to play it cool, Tristan, that wasn't suspicious at all." I giggled at Tea's comment and she gave me a smile that said she loved her dork of a friend, Joey fist pumped in the air, getting over excited again.

"MMMM~, alright! Every single one of us made it here, safe and- AU!" I squealed, ducking behind Atem as Joey sneezed rather loudly, and onto Tea.

"Ew! Joey!" Tea squirmed around, trying to get the gross off of her, a giant loogie hung from Joey's nose afterwards. Atem chuckled, turning his head so he could look at me,

"Afraid of a sneeze, Zaara?" He asked, and I turned red, I just didn't want him to sneeze on me like he did to Tea.

"No, I was just using you as a human meat shield in case he exploded." I stated with a serious expression, walking around him and over to Tea again. His eyes almost seemed to bulge out of his head with confusion at what I had said, but he shook it off. Sort of.

"You would never had caught that cold if it wasn't for Weevil." Yugi stated, feeling bad about being tricked by Weevil so easily and letting Joey dive into the ocean,

"Speaking of our wormy friend, looks like he just slithered his way off the boat and he's already looking to start some trouble." He turned to look at Weevil, who had a grin on his face, "That slimeball, I'd love to wipe that grin off his face." I sighed, _Joey's getting all worked up again._ Atem put a hand on Joey's shoulder,

"I would too, Joey. But we don't have time for Weevil right now, we need to get Grandpa's soul back." Atem stated, throwing away Joey's irritation and replacing it with anger. _Great idea, Atem, get Joey even more fired up about someone else._ I folded my arms, these people don't know how to stay calm. Suddenly a man in a suite with an identical hair style to Tristan's stepped forward.

"Welcome all duelists, please," he brought an arm up behind him, motioning towards the staircase, "Follow the stairs to meet your host." Yugi stared intently at the stone castle,

"That castle has to belong to Pegasus," he stated, his expression grim. _No shit, Sherlock. What gave it away? The fact that he's holding his own tournament on his island or that it's a stone castle that Pegasus is currently in? _I didn't want to say this out loud just because it was obvious, but also because I was slowly learning to hold onto my tongue around these guys. If you said something crude, they'd all turn on you to protect one of their own. It's not something I want to feel. Atem already conveyed what he's capable of on the ship when Weevil threw Yugi's Exodia cards overboard, Atem would've beat him black and blue if I weren't there. Which reminds me-

"Atem," I began to dig through my pack and pulled out Atem's blue jacket, "Here. Thanks for letting me use it last night." I didn't notice it last night, thankfully, but now it was hard to ignore that he had muscles. I've really gatta stop thinking like a girl and think like a thief again. I didn't have any problems with guys when I was a thief. He took it with a grateful expression and put it back on, being an exact older copy of Yugi once more.

"Then what're we waitin for?" Joey asked, responding to Yugi's earlier statement and started walking towards the stairway. Yugi looked at him confused for only a moment before following. There were a bunch of groups splotched out on the stairway that had become friends on board the ship or were friends before hand, the stone stairways were beautifully carved and looked ancient. Along with the stone castle with it's empty windows, kept as it was who knows how long ago. The different terrains of the island were obvious to see from the height of the staircase as we made our way up, I kept a note of it in the back of my head for later.

"Huh, what's that?" Tea stopped and looked out into the forest area just below us, I quickly darted my eyes over to the area she had looked and saw Bakura in the woods.

"Huh?" The younger Muto questioned,

"What do you see, Tea?" The older Muto asked, Tea pointed to a spot in the woods were Bakura had been moments ago with his Millennium Necklace,

"It looked like... Bakura." Tea stated, obviously confused as to why he wasn't with us.

"Bakura? From school?" That's right, Yugi hadn't seen Bakura on board, he avoided Joey and Yugi while we were on the ship. Yugi was always focused on something else when Bakura was around, I looked at Atem. We had a silent conversation with our eyes,

_Bakura never told me why he's here..._

_Well, obviously he didn't want us to know he was here, the only reason he stuck around was for you._

_Well he's sneaking around now, with his Millennium Necklace in hand._

_He's got a Millennium item?_

_Duh. _

The conversation took merely seconds but it seemed that Atem didn't know Bakura had a Millennium Item, and I had forgotten to tell him about mine, another time maybe.

"Hey, you two coming or what?" Joey yelled, the group had finished their conversation and continued up the stairway, we jolted out of our own conversation and nodded,

"Wait for us, Joey! Or do I need to give you another bump on your head?" I threatened playfully as Joey mocked a frightened expression and I began to chase him up the stairs. Atem caught up to Yugi and walked beside him, not bothering the younger Muto with worries of Bakura. Not yet anyways. Joey and I made it to the top of the stairs first and we both were bent over, catching our breath as the others finally made it,

"See, that's why you two should've walked," Tea scolded us for acting like a couple of children. I rolled my eyes and began coughing, my resistance is going down. I need to start working my lungs more or there's going to be more than just a coughing fit as my problem. Atem seemed to appear behind me and held me straight up like Bakura had done on the boat, the coughing ceased and I began to breath again.

"Are you sure you're okay, Zaara?" Joey questioned, I'd definitely have to explain to Joey later about why I'm having these fits. Atem seemed like he wouldn't let it go later, it's something I didn't tell him when I gave him my history. Blah. A bunch of kids of all ages gathered around big iron doors and began to chat,

"Wow, that's Weevil Underwood, the regional champion!"

"And that's the runner up, Rex Raptor!" Weevil looked like he couldn't get enough of the praise that came to him, Rex seemed to be focused heavily on something, although why he had the purple streak in his hair was a mystery to me. Duelists are weird.

"And there's Maku Tsunami!" People turned to look at a guy with spikey blue hair and the guy had failed to locate a shirt to wear as he fashioned a big fishing spear in his left hand. "He was ranked third in the regional championship."

"Wow, these are all the best duelists in the world. Where's the world champion, Kaiba?" My eyes automatically located the kids that were talking and my ears zeroed in on their voices.

"Didn't you hear? Some kid beat him, and on his own turf too." _Someone defeated Seto in a duel? That isn't possible, Seto is the world champion, he's got the three- wait. Yugi and Atem have/had Exodia in their decks! Was it-?_ I turned back to our group and looked at the twins who were trying their best not to gain attention to themselves,

"You two? One of you beat him?" I asked, amazed.

"Are you serious? I thought Kaiba was the best."

"He was, but not anymore."

"Atem's supposed to be the guy to beat now." My eyes nearly bugged outta my head as Joey patted his friend on the back, Yugi and Atem seemed to have started blushing from the attention. I didn't like how these kids were bad mouthing Seto, but if I said anything, I'd probably be outcasted for life from this group. It seemed like Seto did something pretty bad in order for Atem to duel him, from what I've learned about Atem, he only duels when it's a problem big enough and worthy enough.

"Attention! Please gather around! Your malevolent host is anxious to greet you all." Announced a stuffy voice, just hearing him talk made my throat hurt from the tone of it. Everyone looked up to a balcony that was fashioned just above the iron doors to see what Pegasus had to say.

"Boy would I like to get five minutes alone with that guy."

"What and get arrested, Joey?" Joey seemed to lose some steam after thinking it through and I sighed, "Honestly. I know you want revenge but you'll get there. He wants you to go through the tournament first." I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose irritably. A man in a red suite with gold buttons and white ruffles out of the cufflinks came out onto the balcony, his silver haired glimmered in the sunlight and covered his left eye. His golden eye searched the crowd as he held his hands behind him before speaking. I looked at Yugi and Atem and they had grim and determined expressions on their faces as they glared at Pegasus, Pegasus's eye seemed to finally find the spikey haired duo and he grinned wickedly at them. I could hear Pegasus give a low, quiet, chuckle as he smirked down at them.

_I am starting to really hate this guy._

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**A/N: Well, sorry to cut the episode in half, but it makes for a great chapter cliffhanger, yes? XD Well, I hope you will continue to review as you guys follow along, thanks for the favorites and the follows! It makes me proud to know that there are those out there following my story! :) Thanks for reading!  
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**Going on Hiatus for a while because fanfiction angered me, I was trying to delete a chapter from my Naruto fiction then the scroller moved and I deleted the next chapter. I was working on it so I hadn't backed it up yet. So I don't know when I'll update next, sorry guys.  
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**Until next time, TT_TT**

**-Zaara**


	11. Let The Tournament, Begin!

**A/N: Okay, so I know this is long overdue, it was only a month :P so calm down. but here's the next chapter. Hope whoever's reading this enjoys! Please no flamers, like ever, cuz this is my very first fanfic so if I get flamers I will not be afraid to report you, thanks :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or it's Characters, just Zaara, the orphans, and any orphan related character.**

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The twins looked up at Pegasus with regal hate and I put a hand on Atem's shoulder as Tea did the same with Yugi. They both looked at us and sighed, slightly relaxing,

"Trust me, I want to box him as much as Joey does. Not to mention getting your grandfather back." Atem looked at me with slight surprise as Yugi smiled,

"You mean you're actually going to help us?" He asked, hopeful that he had a new friend to help him and his brother on their quest, I sighed looking back up at Pegasus as he walked forward, holding his arms up in welcome, which caused a roar from the crowd.

"Welcome, duelists. I am Maxamillion Pegasus. It is my great honor, and pleasure to welcome you all to the Duelist Kingdom." I glared up at him as his eyes searched the crowd once more, once his _eye _landed on me, it widened slightly and he put his hands on his hips as he continued talking with a grin, "Here you stand before me, the world's greatest duelists, but come tournaments end, only one shall be crowned 'King of Games'!" _Wait until I get up there, Pegasus... We have a score to settle already... _I looked at the others, _they can deal with their own problems... If Atem and Yugi have the skills to beat Seto, then they can definitely beat the cheating ways of Pegasus. _Yugi and Atem were looking down at their decks with solemn eyes, determined to get their Grandfather back. "I implore you all to assemble your dueling decks with care, with creativity, and with cunning. For this competition will test your skills like never before!" Pegasus put his arms up like before and I began to block him out, _I'm not playing his stupid games, regardless of the rules and conditions, I will get her back. _I folded my arms and made myself scarce in the crowd, scanning around at the duelists who came here as Pegasus' voice droned on in the background. _Incredible, everyone is actually captivated by Pegasus... _I shook my head and continued my search in the crowd for anyone I could recognize. _No one but those kids I came here with... _ Suddenly, a hand grasped my arm and another covered my mouth as I was pulled into a bush, _what the-? _

"Don't scream or you'll get us both kicked off the island." _Bakura!? _I glared up at him and he seemed taken back by that action,

"You asshole," I whispered through my teeth as he released me,

"Nice to see you too..."

"You left us, you could've come with us you know. What are you planning, Bakura?" I looked up at him with a brow lifted, making sure what I was doing wasn't the topic of choice. He rubbed the back of his head and grabbed my arm,

"Just- come on." He lead me through the trees and bushes near where the group was, "you stay with them. I know you've got your own plans too, it was obvious that you only trust Atem and I, although why the Pharoah I'll never understand-" I rolled my eyes, "-but you seem to help them out and I have my own agenda... I can't be worrying about you, ditz. So stick with the others and you might get what you came here for." Bakura didn't know what my plans were, but he seemed to understand the gist of the situation we were both in, so I nodded, "keep playing the 'I-trust-you' card with the others and eventually they'll actually drag you in with their own trust. Believe me, I would know. Ryou's dragged me around with them for years so..." He shrugged, letting the sentence hang as he shoved me through the bushes into Atem, _that jerk is gonna get-!_

"Zaara?" Atem had turned around in time to catch me before I had fallen straight into his back, we would've toppled over if Atem's senses hadn't been so well trained. _Where did he learn to do that, I wonder? _His purple, red eyes searched my icy blue ones, I ripped my arm out of his hand and twisted out of his grasp, nearly knocking Joey over as I did this quick manuever.

"I'm fine. Just tripped over a rock or something," I mumbled, irritated that Bakura had figured me out so easily. _Takes one to know one, I guess. _Joey put a hand on my shoulder and I gave him a sisterly smile that couldn't have been more fake but looked more real. Everyone looked up as Pegasus hadn't said much while I was gone,

"This will be a tournament unlike any you've ever experienced, state of the art dueling arenas cover this entire island, and intruiging new dueling rules will be in effect. I could tell you what these new rules are..." a playful grin overcame the flamboyant man's face, "but what fun would that be? You'll discover them as you compete, or you won't last very long." _That sadistic bastard. _"Remember: Play boldly, think strategically, and duel mercilessly." He closed his good eye and grinned, "You have one full hour to prepare, both your cards and yourselves. When the skies light up with fireworks, the duels will begin!" I had turned my body away from Pegasus and glared up at him as he grinned, seeing me with Yugi, Atem, and the others. He knew all too well what was going on, and I hated it. Cheers roared from the crowd once more as Pegasus retreated back into the safety and comfort of his castle, _I'll get in there, one way or another. _

"Hey, Zar, you okay?" Joey got in my face and I quickly manuevered so that my fist connected with his stomach as I walked away,

"Leave me alone, Joey." I grumbled, walking away. Tristan began laughing, telling Joey that he got beat up by a girl, Tea started to tend to the doubled over Joey, and Yugi just watched with surprise clear on his face. "I already want to leave this stupid Island..." I chewed on my lip as I began to think about a plan to get into the castle and rescue her, _but Pegasus isn't stupid... he probably has guards stationed everywhere... _My anger grew and grew, it wasn't ceasing under my control like I wanted it to, and I knew the cause of it was because of Pegasus. _Kidnapping her to get me to play his stupid game was rediculous, all because of my bracelet? I mean what could he want with these stupid things? _A realization hit me as I looked at the Muto twins who had one Millenium item like my own. _It's got the same stupid insignia... _They were talking Joey down from coming over here and knocking me on the head while I just walked away in thought once more, into the forest I went. Lost in thought, I wondered around for quite some time until I came upon a dueling arena with quite a fuss going on around it,

"He cheated! He lead us here cuz he knew he'd have an unfair advantage!" Joey cried out, pointing to someone I couldn't see because I was still in the bug infested forest. _Wait... bugs? Weevil! _I raced out to see the dueling arena with Atem and Weevil on it, and Atem had just lost a monster only seconds ago, _so why hasn't he lost any lifepoints? _My feet slid across the newly wet grass as I nearly rammed into Joey,

"What happened? Why is Atem already losing?" Upon hearing my voice, Atem turned to look at me and sighed, _what'd I do? It's not like it's my fault he's in this situation. He shoulda known Weevil woulda done something this tricky. _

"Go ahead, call me a cheater! You're all just angry that you didn't think to steal the rule book yourselves! ... and because you didn't, Atem is about to get stung!" Just then, Atem laughed, _wait wait... he laughed? The hell? _Weevil had the same reaction as me and we both looked up at him and he gave me a wink, I blinked, feeling my face heat up as a reaction.

"What, how can you be laughing?" Weevil questioned, irritated that he wasn't more fearful like some of the other duelists here would be. Atem just smirked back,

"Because..." I looked at the field, immedately drawn to what he was laughing about and grinned, "Take a look at your ferocious Killer Needle now." Everyone did as he said and some gasped, Weevil looked more surprised than anyone,

"Wh-wh-what!?" The killer bee of Weevil's was lighting up and then it exploded in a blinding white light, Weevil had the reaction I figured he would, "Oh, no! My monster! What have you done with my monster!?" The way Weevil talked sounded like he was a bad guy from a bad movie in the 80's. "This makes no sense, my creature was supercharged with the field power bonus!" Weevil looked down at the score bored/dueling board and saw that Atem hadn't lost any lifepoints. Yugi and Atem looked at each other, both with a triumphant grin that told the rest of us that they were thinking the same thing. _What are they thinking...? _"But according to this, Atem's monster became just as powerful."

"Looks like my Mammoth got a field power bonus from the wasteland area just like your bugs do from the forest." Atem announced, pointing at Weevil, _are these guys for real... Atem really does battle with his cards, not his fists... What a bunch of weirdos... _

"The field point advantage was supposed to be mine alone!" Weevil growled, glaring over at Atem, then at little Yugi, then he glared at me with a sadistic grin, "Well, come to watch me duel, have you?" I gave him an ugly expression,

"Right. Because me and Atem wanting to kick your ass on the boat wasn't a sign that said 'leave me the hell alone.'" I rolled my eyes and looked up at Atem, and apparently Weevil's comment had irritated him more. Atem gave Weevil a speech, which I ignored, because Weevil countered him with his own speech of dorkiness then Atem's friends began to cheer for him. "Wow... I understand why Bakura isn't with these guys now.. Because Ryou isn't here to force him.." I saw the group that had surrounded the area of the dueling arena and noticed that most people were watching instead of dueling themselves. _Well this isn't going to thin the herd out any... _

"My hercules beetle will find a way to crawl under your skin." I rolled my eyes at Weevil's statement. I knew Yugi and Atem's decks as well as they did, so when Atem put down the Feral Imp, I said aloud,

"Feral Imp with the Horn of the Unicorn to give it a magical boost." After Atem had said nearly the same thing I did, after I said it, Joey looked at me with wide eyes,

"How did you...? What?" I blinked, realising that I was getting _way _into the duel that was happening and shook it off,

"I know duel monsters, okay? I also know Yugi and Atem's decks like they do." I shrugged my shoulders, "Atem and I would duel for fun on the ship on the way here." Yugi gave me a grin, sensing that I was starting to relax around him and his gang again, when in reality, I was just using them so I could get into the castle and rescue her. Weevil cackled,

"You'll have to do a lot better than that! Hercules Beetle, attack!" Weevil commanded, the beetle roared as it sent its attack and I could feel myself physically stiffen and whisper,

"Feral Imp, magic lightening attack!" Atem and I spoke at exactly the same time, my hands gripping my arms since they were folded as I watched the duel with the upmost intensity. We all watched as the lightening attack consumed the Herucles Beetle and-

"Atem's attack didn't even phase that thing!" Tea gaped, taking a step back in fear for her friend,

"Somethins screwey!" Joey yelled, mater-of-factly, Atem glared at his opponent,

"My Feral Imps magic lightening attack should've destroyed your beetle, is this another trick Weevil?" Atem accused Weevil of more trickery, which I wouldn't run it by him either, and I was ready to throw something heavy and hard at Weevil's head. The intensity in Atem's eyes gave me a headache-

_"My Pharoah, please, rethink this battle before it becomes too late." I pleaded with my long time friend, who was throwing on his cape and replacing the Millenium Items on his body. His red-purple eyes sought out mine, but I knew better than to look the Pharoah in the eyes when others were in the room. He grew irritated at my formalities,_

_"Zaara, please, I've fought many opponents and enemies that have threatened this land before." I shook my head, forcing the tears that threatened my eyes to retreat,_

_"None as powerful as this, he's summoned a powerful monster... Many monsters that have already obliterated the lower ring of our kingdom... Please, Pharoah, at least take Priest Seto with you." The two looked at each other and I looked Priest Seto's side to see a girl the same age as me with the same eyes, same hair style, and same skin tone, only- her hair had natural blue-white highlights in them that made her eyes look even brighter with her dark hair. She held fast onto Priest Seto's arm, begging him not to go as well,_

_"Alright. If Priest Seto is willing, we will both go together." Pharaoh nodded, looking at his friend who sighed in return,_

_"You know it is my deepest wishes to do my Pharaoh's bidding, my King." Priest Seto bowed lowly and the girl next to him turned and ran out of sight, her hands to her face. I looked back at the two, not knowing weather or not they'd return to me and my friend in one piece. I prayed to the gods that night, harder than I did any other night, for them to return safely._

_"Exodia! Obliterate!"_

_I rushed out to my window to see the mighty Exodia on my Pharaoh's side and sighed in relief as the monsters, and the conquerer, defeated. Priest Seto's Blue Eyes was also summoned, and once the battle was over, Exodia retired back to his dimension and the Blue Eyes gave Priest Seto and Pharaoh a ride back up to the palace. Running as fast as this gown would let me, I made it within minutes to the front gate to great our heroes, unfortunately, so were many others._

_"Pharaoh!"_

_"My King!"_

_Others were yelling out to him and I felt small, unneeded as the crowd around my pushed and shoved against me to praise their Pharaoh. I grabbed my friend's hand and she looked at me with happiness in her eyes, ones that told me she was thankful he was back for her._

_"Oracle!" Priest Seto cried, running to her and thrusting her into a hug as he held fast to her as she cried in happiness. I held one arm with the other and retreated back into the main hall of our palace, being lost in the crowd._

_"I am pleased you are back, my Pharaoh... Although how you managed to elude your loving subjects still eludes me." A pair of arms had encircled my waist as I looked up at the crimson-violet eyes that looked as though he were drinking in the sight of me,_

_"Are you not pleased to see me?" He questioned, his grin spreading into a big smirk as he held me tighter. I shuddered against his hold, biting my lip and looking up at him,_

_"My Pharaoh, I am not your mistress, nor your bride. Continue to hold me like this, and others may get the wrong idea."_

_"What if I want them to think this?" He inquired, he leaned down to make our lips touch-_

"Yeah! He did it!"

"Wow, who woud've thought?"

_what happened? What'd I miss? _I looked up to the dueling arena and saw that Weevil had been defeated and Atem stood triumphant with a thumbs up to his friends. _Holy shit... That vision made me miss the entire duel... Gaaah! _

"You won! I knew you would!" Tea yelled, plainly overexcited by the fact that Atem won his first duel in Duelist Kingdom. _He still has a long way to go... _I looked at a tall blonde that had appeared apparently during the duel, she had a dumbstruck look on her face.

"First time watching him duel?" She nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, he's got that luck..." I shrugged and looked over at Weevil, who was whining like the child he actually is. _So much for a good childhood... _

"But I'm the Regional champion, the regional champion!" He cried, on his knees in the dirt. Atem stepped forward,

"You call yourselves a champion, Weevil, but you only won them through lying and cheating. True champions... they play with honor. They play fair." He bounced his newely won starchips in his hand and I was starting to get annoyed with Weevil's inssesant whining. I put my face in his,

"You think you can cheat your way when you've obviously got no talent kid? If you don't have a heart, you can't play the game. This kid isn't gonna learn, Atem." Weevil tried to scoot away but I grabbed his color and tears of fear streamed down his face, "Maybe I should teach him a lesson instead." I grinned and I could see Atem considering it, he was leaning torwards yes when Yugi butted in,

"Guys, we can't beat him up! He just go dethroned by Atem, he's in enough pain already." Atem and I sighed in unison as I let Weevil go,

"Fine~," I complained, releasing him as Atem gave a look of disapproval to his slightly younger twin as I ripped Weevil's dueling gauntlet off of his hand and handed it to Joey, "Here." Joey looked at me with a sappy grin that told me I shouldn't have done that,

"Thanks, Zar!" He gave me a big hug, my legs dangled in the air because he was holding me so high,

"Jo-ey... Ca-n't... Br-eathe..." I coughed slightly and was released, lightheaded I might add as Weevil passed out on the ground from fear of Joey and I. Why he was afraid of Joey was beyond me. He's a big teddy bear.

"There." All of us looked at Atem and Yugi, "Three starchips so far." Atem announced, spacing out as he looked at his gauntlet,

"But we still need to get you seven more, along with Joey's nine." Yugi stated, "I know we can do it." He smiled at his slightly elder twin and Atem nodded,

"Right. Ten starchips will gain me entrance into that Castle, where they're keeping our grandfather prisoner." Atem stated, looking up at the giant stone castle, _you aren't the only one here for someone, Atem. _His eyes caught mine and I was reminded of the vision I had, his crimson-purple eyes matched the 'pharaoh' in my dreams and visions, it was creepy since we hadn't met until just a few weeks ago, but nevertheless, it felt as though these visions weren't so long ago. Joey started leading the group away and Atem stayed behind,

"Are you alright?" _Shoot! _I looked up at him and smiled, trying not to blush or give him my signature grimace,

"Fine, just spaced out during your duel, I guess Weevil just irritated me too much so I couldn't listen to his voice." I shrugged, making Atem grin with that comment,

"Why do you always threaten people?"

"Why do you?"

"Touche..."

I smiled at him genuinely this time, and he returned it, he somehow knew when I wasn't truly smiling and it didn't actually irritate me.

"What did you think about when you spaced out?" He nudged my shoulder so I would start walking, we were already trailing behind the others, Joey was jumpin around trying to find someone to duel. I turned a new shade of red that could've been named after me and hid under my black hair,

"Nothing of importance... I guess I just had a vision... or something." My face cooled down when I truly thought about it and I fiddled with my Millennium Bracelet.

"You get visions too?" My eyes darted up to his, which were more violet than crimson now. He touched his Millennium Puzzle, "My Puzzle has given me visions as well... I've also been summoned... _into _it before, somehow." He gazed at it while he walked next to me, his eyes also spacing out like I would when in deep thought. "Within the puzzle, I feel there are locked... _memories _of some sort. Staircases over staircases, and doors within doors create the maze that is the puzzle." He explained, and I could tell he hadn't shared this with anyone before because he mumbled it, as though he were talking to himself. I looked down at my bracelet once more, curious as to if it had things within it as well.

"What are your visions of?" It took everything I had to _not _say 'my pharaoh' or 'my king', because then if he had some of the same visions, I'm pretty sure he'd know which ones I've seen. I didn't like the idea of him having the same visions as me, and I wasn't even sure if he was the spikey haired lover I had in my visions. _Did I just say lover? O/o _My cheeks began to heat as he looked down at me,

"Of garden outings with a friend, we would spend hours in the garden, or at least that's what I've gathered from what I remember of the visions." _So he doesn't remember the entirety of his visions? Why can I? Am I meant to? _ "Also of duels, I had one a few nights ago of a duel with a Priest, who's name was unkown to me but we were great friends. He did not want me to go face another opponent, so he kept me busy with his monsters, letting others do the work I felt I needed to do. Then afterwards I was too tired to even think about going out, so I went to my bedroom and..." His face began to redden and he looked away, my eyes stared him down, wanting to know he had people with the same faces and names as I did. If it was, then we both had a Priest, but he didn't know the name of his, mine was Seto, the Pharaoh remained nameless, and Oracle was obviously Seto's lover in that time of Egypt.

"But what does it mean, why are _we _having these visions? If anyone else are having them, why haven't they said anything? _IS _anyone else having visions?" I was frustrated and slightly flustered, remembering the intimacy that the Pharaoh and I had in my dreams and visions. It seems as though we had grown up together, and I had grown attatched to Atem, I didn't want a replay of what happened with Seto and Mokuba.

"We have more important things to worry about than a few visions or dreams. Maybe they mean nothing and we are just having consistent dreams." He offered a way out of the conversation and I took it, nodding my head. He grinned, taking my hand softly in his and brought it to his lips, "Thank you for staying with us. The group I mean, Joey got... worried I guess is the right word, when you disappeared. He's very protective, you know." I gave him a grin, rolling my eyes at him,

"Well, I'm sure _Joey _would have a much more peaceful existence without me in it." It was his turn to roll his eyes as he twirled me around and his arm was then extended around my back and waist, my arm across my torso and holding his hand. Blushing, I released his hand and looked ahead, "W-we should catch up, Atem. Don't want anyone teasing Joey or Yugi." With that, Atem took off, and I was left there to breathe easier. That is, until he came back and grabbed my hand, making me run with him. I sighed, _I'm not going to get away from this group easily... Am I?  
_

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! I had a writers block for Yu-Gi-Oh for quite some time and was on a Naruto Binge... obviously XD Don't expect another chapter out of me anytime soon, I just got hired at a daycare and I work 9-6, plus I have brothers to take care of, yay for being an adult -_0  
**

**Until Next Time!**

**-Zaara**


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